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hard to relate my whole life
in a ball of phrases
hard to relate all i want
through a hole in my hand
hard to relate to these gods
with their sort-of faces
hard to relate, heart-to-heart

deepest apologies
i don’t know how to even talk

the animal has the benefit
of an instinct to be in-sync
but I only burn out the filament
of a tin drum
and a blue streak
on a canvas with no tooth

is it gone out of me
the stupidity and the grief?
clear away the debris
smuggle in the expansive sympathy
come a gift, come a theft
ill wind, out of breath

it’s hard to relate
to celebrity demon-angels
it’s hard to relate
to the mountains of Afghanistan
it’s hard to relate
to a tempest of new diseases
hard to relate, far too hard

keep your apologies
you don’t know how to fend it off
no matter what you do

I’m dug in deep underneath
the lucidity of the grief
dug in year-over-year
buzz a fly in the face of every fear
come a gift, come a theft
ill wind, out of breath

come to yer senses or nought
come to yer senses or nought
come to yer senses or nought
come to yer senses or nought