remember when voices used to be soft?
extending all that you were taught
before they had altogether trailed off?
stranding you while you were spinning

with no help or warmth from the strangers' eyes
or the suits drowning up to their neckties
cursing and dreading their own dark sunrise

as anesthesia to surgery
i will make this easier

so you sink down into your deepest chair
and play a game of solitaire
wishing there were another player
pray this is a game that you can win

if there's trouble coming to your front door
coming in pairs or groups or more
when you've lost your will and track of the score
losing room for nails in your coffin

as anesthesia to surgery
i will make this easier

traveled down to a cold drifter like a stone
you're whittled away and alone
believing there's a reason you have grown
watching the crowd of people thinning

when the beaten path won't take you back home
it's just a stack of wood that creaks and groans
barely sheltering you when the wind moans

as anesthesia to surgery
i will make this easier

i will be holding you down