You Don’t Know I’m Here

“Tree, why don’t you flower?
Are you troubled by and anxious of the drought?”
“I’m deciding how to flower
Speculating how to sprout

If I flower white I’ll not be noticed
But if I’m red I will stand out
They’ll break my branches
I’ve no doubt.”

You don’t know I’m here

All my anger fades
All the sadness stays with you
Isn’t that the way
Red fades into the blue

You exit the stage door
Like you’re tripping a trap door
And the smoke rings hang like a noose
It’s true
Red fades before the blue

You won’t know I’m here
You can’t know I’m here

There’s no secrets in this house
Nobody’s left home
The actress and the bishop
Are wishing we would just pick up the phone
Catapult me forward and wish me well
Constant as a wishing well
And if the heat doesn’t get to me
Coyotes will

“Tree, why don’t you flower?
Are you troubled by this melancholy mood?”
“The black bile in your veins
Is running counter to the tune.”

An atheist a generation late
And an old man too soon
And the Wheeling Tunnel lights
Slip like sugar melting off a spoon
Something in the heart of Tom Paine burned
For a revolution
And the Wheeling Tunnel lights
Shine like mercury melting off the moon

You don’t know I’m here
You can’t know I’m here
You won’t know I’m here