You Used To Be Mine

Time used to be free.

We lived on the earth

And lay in the soft sand

As naked as birth

With roots in the dirt–

Hand

In hand.

Rivers used to be whiskey.

I'd try to drink it all

Instead, it sucked me down

And flung me out

Like a waterfall

Far from that pretty doll

Whom I loved and

Into a lonely ghost town.

Tongues used to be loose,

Now they stay tight

It's made me ill

Confined at night

Earnestly watching kites fly

And never sharing in the thrill.

Lips used to be electricity

In each and every nerve. 

Now every day I dwell

On images of her words, curves

And worldly reserve

As I bake

In my hand-picked Hell.

Grass used to be life

Pulsing in my veins,

But now I drink to unacquired dreams,

The drops on my windowpane,

And actions I cannot explain.

May they all just turn to steam.