Then I'll Be Smiling

Trailed by a mess

Of masking tape construction paper

And the best of intentions

He tried to patch up every hole as he went

Back and forth and back again

And his friends half full of half concerns

Embarrassed looks and tired words

They burrowed deeper into the ignorant

Little lives they preferred

And he envied their distance

Their lack of concern

He thought,

Once I shed the whole of me

Once I shed the whole of me

Then I'll be smiling

He cursed himself

And his instinct to nurse

Every idea to health

And all of the falls that he'd spent

Trying to coax his name from the mouths

Of success

He thought

Once I shed the whole of me

Once I shed the whole of me

Then I'll be smiling.

They litter me with small awareness!

Then they ask if I'm good enough

They litter me with small awareness

Just to wake me up

Why do the fools wake me up?