Sink Or Syncopate

I got a friend who says the end is near
there ain’t no time to hold back
and he’s feeling good today might smoke the whole pack
eight fifteen and we’re waiting for the bus
then Jake tells me he ain’t waiting for nothing
missed too much
all the running and franticness for who for what?
he said I don’t get them folks, they just fit like spokes, I just drift like smoke
so to the breeze I go, flow like them concrete roads, roll, I just do my thing
I cleared my throat and said okay but know
what you throw
everything boomerangs
he said save the ten cent zen-isms for the
dopes in the circus tent
time is the only thing permanent and its looking late my friend
so here we are surviving in the city’s vacant ends
where the wild things are and the pavement ends
we say come what may one hundred percent

here we are looking lost today
trying to find our way
let me tell you about the joy and the hurt
and the feeling of being washed away
you could swear the whole world’s a stage
another day in the masquerade
you can see both sides of their face
a day short and a dollar late
here we are looking lost today
trying to find our way
let me tell you about the joy and the hurt
and the feeling of being washed away
the way the ache permeates
its sink or syncopate
i walk with you, you walk with me
you won’t find what you want but you’ll
find what you need
hard land, heartland, speeding the plow
grinding all day cops beating him down
big dreams someday he’s going to
reach new ground
but he’s smoking all day to even him out
we greet with a pound he’s like what up ock
ten to ten I’m up and down this block
I said why you let them rocks weigh down
your socks
then he looked at me and stopped
he said look at the ants doing the downtown dance
I vowed to God I’d never bow like that
this is what was left for me
call it entropy, glamorized relentlessly
this is what the white kids love to buy
but they turn a blind eye to the ugly side
no help I’ve mouths to feed
but you know, die on your feet on
live on your knees
it’s like a jungle sometimes, see how the
jackals can hide?
they even shackled our minds,
we grab the saddles and ride
on stitch at a time, make a wing from a
nickel and dime
side by side until we finally arrive

here we are looking lost today
trying to find our way
let me tell you about the joy and the hurt
and the feeling of being washed away
you could swear the whole world’s a stage
another day in the masquerade
you can see both sides of their face
a day short and a dollar late
here we are looking lost today
trying to find our way
let me tell you about the joy and the hurt
and the feeling of being washed away
the way the ache permeates
its sink or syncopate
i walk with you, you walk with me
you won’t find what you want but you’ll
find what you need

ten pm, whistle blowing, the day is growing dark
I met the homegirl SKS o the bridge at Loring Park
we stayed up late drinking, smoking,
talking backwards
laughing under a moon of alabaster
looking at downtown smiling
that bright battleship on the horizon
we talked about dying, legacy, infamy,
abandoned industry
feeling strangled, peoples angles
we spoke on angels, heaven and hell
while the church across the park rang
its twelve o’clock bells
and she sighed to herself, another day in the veldt
pulled the dagger from her hip and turned it in
scratched another notch in the cracked
leather on her belt
she took a pull of whiskey and said I’ll play
the hand I’m dealt
and I’m going to get there you know,
even if I have to put the feathers on myself

side by side one stitch at a time until we find it, over that line
we go side by side one stitch at a time until we
find it, over that line
here we are looking lost today, trying to
find our way
let me tell you about the joy and the hurt and
the feeling of being washed away
washed away, washed away, washed away but we’re on our way