American Highway
I am wandering
through valleys of devastation
the creatures are friendly
but lack motivation
have forgotten to fly
have forgotten to dream
have built their homes on lies
have swallowed their screams
I am racing
through canyons of darkness
safe and secure
in my steel automobile
the dials
the soft, glowing
green lights
envelope me
hundred thousand a year
can buy sanctuary
enough to forget
left with
no place to turn
a mountain of regret
sleep comfortably on piles of debt
can live my life
as if it
doesn't really exist
listen to them insist
money is worthwhile
family is a must
turning forty isn't old
but being old
is what everybody wants
eventually I know
that all I have will pass
everything I have built
wasn't built to last
these thoughts are not silent
they are rushing streams
they gather momentum
with every breath
gasoline fueled death
beneath my awareness
surrounded by a ton
of unswerving Corvette
push the pedal to the floor
count the revolutions
till I spin out of control
no laughter left
for me to expel
the only pain I feel
is the turn of the wheel
remember this morning
my banal breakfast
waffles and coffee
and bacon, so crisp
my arteries swell
with unnatural swiftness
blood pumps
into tired limbs
gripping a newspaper
and a pencil between my lips
as I suffer through yet
another morning ritual
its not spiritual
its not like
I can still feel
after twenty years
what day did I fall
off the right track
end up here
passing through these
vacuous colonies of torpid fools
clueless individuals
buying grass
drinking booze
nothing left for them
they've signed away their souls
to whatever company hires
empty headed
college educated vessels
qouthe my wisdom
that has yet to steer me right
not that I'm uptight
wound backwards
aging into the night
as the world around me
ascends into light
no room for the
independent
melodramatic
underachiever
constant watcher and reader
at the helm of the behemoth
losing my senses
sweat cooling as I roll down the window
slow this lumbering beast to a crawl
manage to stifle the hatred i feel
risk a parting glance in the mirror
stars glare noncommital
calm, lonely black tar
amidst an ocean of humble
american highway
through valleys of devastation
the creatures are friendly
but lack motivation
have forgotten to fly
have forgotten to dream
have built their homes on lies
have swallowed their screams
I am racing
through canyons of darkness
safe and secure
in my steel automobile
the dials
the soft, glowing
green lights
envelope me
hundred thousand a year
can buy sanctuary
enough to forget
left with
no place to turn
a mountain of regret
sleep comfortably on piles of debt
can live my life
as if it
doesn't really exist
listen to them insist
money is worthwhile
family is a must
turning forty isn't old
but being old
is what everybody wants
eventually I know
that all I have will pass
everything I have built
wasn't built to last
these thoughts are not silent
they are rushing streams
they gather momentum
with every breath
gasoline fueled death
beneath my awareness
surrounded by a ton
of unswerving Corvette
push the pedal to the floor
count the revolutions
till I spin out of control
no laughter left
for me to expel
the only pain I feel
is the turn of the wheel
remember this morning
my banal breakfast
waffles and coffee
and bacon, so crisp
my arteries swell
with unnatural swiftness
blood pumps
into tired limbs
gripping a newspaper
and a pencil between my lips
as I suffer through yet
another morning ritual
its not spiritual
its not like
I can still feel
after twenty years
what day did I fall
off the right track
end up here
passing through these
vacuous colonies of torpid fools
clueless individuals
buying grass
drinking booze
nothing left for them
they've signed away their souls
to whatever company hires
empty headed
college educated vessels
qouthe my wisdom
that has yet to steer me right
not that I'm uptight
wound backwards
aging into the night
as the world around me
ascends into light
no room for the
independent
melodramatic
underachiever
constant watcher and reader
at the helm of the behemoth
losing my senses
sweat cooling as I roll down the window
slow this lumbering beast to a crawl
manage to stifle the hatred i feel
risk a parting glance in the mirror
stars glare noncommital
calm, lonely black tar
amidst an ocean of humble
american highway
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