Portrait of Moments Wasted

Watch the twirling ribbons of cigarette smoke
Bathed in the neon wash of the signs overhead
Ripple with the wistful sighs of lonely drunks and
The huddled-together lovers that they so resent
Did you sew your lips together for your own health?
(I didn’t want it, I did it anyway
I didn’t want it, I did it anyway)
Are you so afraid of dirt you can’t clean yourself?
(I didn’t want it, I did it anyway
I didn’t want it, I did it anyway)
Listen to God singing in the shrieking of feedback
While the kids all dance like the world’s at its end
They do their damnedest to feign disinterest then
Go home and curse the words they haven’t said
Did you sew your lips together for your own health?
(I didn’t want it, I did it anyway
I didn’t want it, I did it anyway)
Are you so afraid of dirt you can’t clean yourself?
(I didn’t want it, I did it anyway
I didn’t want it, I did it anyway)
The houses were paintings
The people inside, all asleep
By the windows were waiting
At attention to greet the Queen
Ear to ear smiles on their faces
(So everyone knows they’re not dead)
Are being held in their places
hooks round the backs of their heads