[Sage Francis]
The first thing he says to me is:
"If you could know it all, would you want to?"
And I'm wondering if it's a question he poses everybody with
I was warned about the gift that he's got and the kind of things he sees
Me? Well I got a few tricks up my sleeve

I was waiting for him to show his hand
Till I discovered the difference between an old mind
And the mind of an old man
So I stand corrected, sitting in my chair erect and attentive
Wishing that he never asked that question
Because it echoes in my empty feelings
Fearing what's underneath
Each following sentence
Revealing a puzzle piece to the jig saw
Of a skin crawling coffee session
It's something that his kid saw in me
That brought me to his attention
And he knows this!
Who's he think he's speaking' to?
It's not often that he emerges from his coffin of a reading room
On a special occasion, he tests his relationship
With one who's never read much but he's interested in spaceships

His head's stuffed with ancient scripts so he laughs
Holds up his golden cup to toast the past
“Here's to a lack of spontaneity the future has
I can tell you when you're gonna die
All you gotta do is ask!”

(Oooh…what's up Power Trip, huh? Big tough guy now?
Throwing things like that over a cup of joe
With someone you don't even know
Really, you don't know who I am…)

He sat there, his eyes still weren't focusing
He said, "I can see you seen some things"
And I said "Yeah, well thanks for noticing.”
What gave it away - my poker limbs?
Cross-examined while my hands were busy closing things

I’ve been to deserts that he's only read about in winter weather
And I'm able to fill the gaps that act as traps in the limits of letters
When mirrors open, I bet he thinks I’ll enter
But I detect ulterior motives in his hidden agenda
We live forever in these chairs comparing mental notes
Bodies doubling as temporary captains of a rented boat
My paper-mate sent me to her folks in an envelope
Disguised as insurance fraud, some things were never meant to float
I've never been in a shipwreck but I know they exist
And the experience must be something close to this
Hopeless feeling that gets reeled in from oceans for emotions, sick
Got me shaking his hand with an open fist
What's he notice in my grasp besides the calluses?
A soul that's trapped by my mind's paralyses?
Knowing I’ll ask him to sign the marriage slip
He says "Not so fast", and he goes to find his glasses
Bastard…
Puts on the lenses that were scratched like
Someone got the best of him in a cat fight
Must’ve been when he developed that bad sight
They don't help, he needs a helmet with a flashlight
If he thinks he can enter the darkness at half-price
To find his daughter's black wedding dress from her past life
Traditions died at a haunted house party last night
Somebody sound out for the body bag-pipes