lay them strait

hold onto it
on a long, long leash
hold onto it
on a long long, leash
its warm, warm breath
as it scurries round your feet
can melt the sidewalk out from underneath

(That's gonna be a song when I get the rest of it.
This below is me complaining to poetry, rather than with it, because it won't come back to me yet and I still need it to keep my life in order.)

Poetry won't come back to me till I'm done with this.
I say this is a bunch of bullshit.
Mine to decide, define, decline
if I wanna shake my head no, no
and tell a body where to go.
I'm gonna rise like dough I'm gonna walk out slow
into the cold rain.
I'm gonna swell like rice and click my heels once twice
stick my fingers in the drain.
So much of my hair down there I think I built another skull
So much of me thrown out I think the outside must be full
Oh, dog, gimme something to pull
Give me some way to restart the flow
Gimme somewhere else to go
Some other way to know
Some other thing that must be done
Brother tell me how to tell a brother of the word
The load I've taken on my sticky back is just absurd
The friendship that I hold him in is straining at the seams
He wants my time and patience when I don't know my own dreams
He wants me to find hours to spend just listening to his tales
And I will fail, and I will fail, and I do fail
Let it be enough
That he's become this tough, this hard 'fore I turned tail.
If I'm not listening am I not a friend
If I'm not visiting am I not a friend
If I'm not calling am I not a friend
If I'm just stalling am I not a friend
And cry I will for the guts I spill
Whosever's they may be
And hope I do that we all get through
To a world where love and time and space are free.
And I hear my sisters' teeth grind
Out there in the dark mind
Out there in the cold sun
Out there with the old one
One sister's the bold one
One is the controlled one
Don't never try to hold one back
From what she sees is true
They say they worry bout me
I say I worry about you
I don't know what we're going to do
But we'll all get through
Like a tree through a fence
Like smoke through a curtain
Like butter through the center
Of a loaf right out of the stove.
Did you walk that road,
I drove.
Did you sing that song,
I hummed.
Did you bear that load,
I dragged.
Did you say you were wrong,
I bragged.
Are you fast enough
I'm slow
But I want somewhere else to go.
I want somewhere I want to know.
I want my baby's eyes to show
Me that sweet light that leads the right way.
I want this day to lead to night to lead to new day.