Wildlife in America - Shearwater

Back before

Back in our school days

You were wild-eyed

Before the damage was done

We tasted that fear in our mouths on Sundays

But you know

You know it’s not living

When the wildfires

Were burning out on the lawn

You held your arms out

Primed for the ready line

With your crusader cross

And your small-dose amphetamine

Gunning for the hours when the sparks rain down

But you can’t remember

Which was the last war

Or who it is now

When every shadow is a Saladin

Look at me

You must be dreaming

We must be dreaming

Now they’ve gone

Scaled up and on the roads

They roll their heavy ranks over

With an ancient song

«Stay away from old thoughts

Old doubts and old feelings.»

But keeping it so far down isn’t easy

And you know it’s too late

Late for a last war

And it’s too late

To back out of (your) real life

Into firelight

You must be dreaming

We must be dreaming

Billy’s in position

He’s rolling into town

Kicking in the door

That fucker’s never coming down

He feels the slightest murmuration

A shiver in the heat

Skinny dogs and safety glass that’s shattered in the street

It looks like diamonds

You’ve got your mother’s eyes

You’ve got your father’s heart

Look what it did to him, did to him, did to him, did to him