If I call you up to see what’s up
It’s actually a cry for help
There’s something that I’m not bringing up.
If I tell you that I’m doing fine
Consider it a warning sign
Something’s creeping up from behind.
If I make any effort at all
It means I’m about to fall.
If you could read my mind, I’d be grateful.
And Lori, I am sorry you have to decode me
But I feel so heavy, I need you to unload me
I’ve never asked for your love or sympathy
And only sometimes money
But Lori, I need you to erode me
If I ask about your family
It means I’m doing badly
Then you should start to worry about me.
f I mention a mutual friend
It means I’m about done in.
The water’s finally risen to my chin.
If I comment on the news
It means I’ve got the blues
The dangerous kind that never changes hues.
And Lori, I am sorry you have to decode me
But I feel so heavy, I need you to unload me
I’ve never asked for your love or sympathy
And only sometimes money
But Lori, I need you to erode me
Take me apart, head to heart
By violence or some other form of art
Explode me, Lori, or just slowly corrode me
Demote me to dust motes for me.
Scatter all my pieces to the breezes
Bury them in all the vaguest places
Hide them in the slimes of all the far-off climes
Maybe I’ll recombine in a better time.
If you sense that I am aching
I must be bad at faking
I’m one act short of this tragedy I’m creating
If I end with a sweet “Farewell,”
Don’t you dare turn off your cell
Or I might just shut off myself as well.
And I don’t mean to sound too ominous
And I don’t want you to make a fuss
But this might be the last time there’s an “us.”