A man selling knives at three a.m. on TV With the sound off I reread your mothers letter I cant sleep I almost sent her my only picture unframed Of you at 5 With your book on trains But she told me not to write or call But she apologized when you put the TV through the wall She thinks it was me that brought you to Berkeley Like you never touched whiskey before me And living with you is like driving in the rain I cant see where Im going but I still dont press the brake What happened after the year that we got through Maybe even with the belt that I bought you A woman is strapping her arm After fighting shes finally calm I can hear you say her name appeasingly Like you did with mine when you were teasing me By midnight each night we had sunk to the floor On the deflating air mattress we blamed the cats for When you looked at me as you stood in the door I rolled my eyes and turned on Law and Order And living with you and being blindfolded are the same I cant see where Im going and it makes my head ache Now the TV is replaying Annie Hall And I swear Woody Allen has your walk I squint my eyes and see you with Annie Arm in arm With the sound off I hear the alarm And living with you is like hair going down the drain We lose and lose until were drowning in a lake I drove out to see you in your best friends car Looking for your name, we walked in circles for an hour And in the end we chose a spot and took turns, I sat down And told you something and picked the dried grass on the ground And living with guilt is counting up your sins I can only look back and see where Ive been But I couldnt stop what you did to your veins And you wouldnt have allowed me, anyway
annie, tv, living, arm, appeasingly