Haunted House Party

The first thing he says to me

"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 waitin' for him to show his hand

Til 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

'cause 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 speakin' 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

(what's up power trip? big tough guy now? throwing things like that over a cup of joe w/ 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 seeing 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 up into deserts

That he's only read about in winter weather

And i'm able to fill the gaps that act as traps in the lyrics 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 of my grasp besides the calluses

A soul that's trapped by my mind's paralyses

Knowing i'll ask his 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 have been when he developed that bad sight

They don't help, he needs a helmut with a flash light

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 our haunted house party last night