this man, he walks high like he's got platform shoes on

under that suit he's inevitably wearing. he walks hard

down the street to my car cause he's ready for new

consequences. he can hold up the weight of what he gets

away with, he's got thick blood, he's got a man's back.

- he can bike out to the edge of town and come back

in the window before morning's fully open for business. not

because all the doors are locked to him, but because the world

was more open, and the house is more shut. and there are

worse things at that house than there are in the air outside,

so he is just prepared. he's a smart kid, and he knows how

to use the advantage.

- this man, he talks loud cause if he's louder, then he's

right. right? but mostly for the enjoyment. and mostly because

that girl, she's still smiling while he's howling out the window, howling

through the lines while he's sprawled out across town in the dark.

he talks hard down the phone to my head cause he's ready for

new consequences. he can hold up the weight of what he's trying

to say, he's got strong bones, he's got a fast heart.

- he can stalk out into a party and be the talk of the city

before any of those high school punks know what hit them. there's

a fine line between cocky and knowing what's up, and he walks that

line like he owns the damn thing; no one can tell where the sound's

coming from, only that it's coming out of him, and the tone's just

about right. he tastes good on their collective palate, a breath of fresh

air in an arid town.

- this man, he sounds good when he isn't even saying any

thing at all, a ringing reverberating in and out, a human sound. he's

a good man because he knows how to be human, and he's a better

man for knowing the bad things humans can do, for knowing no matter

what gets said about him, he doesn't have to talk back to be the betterman.

he rings hard in my head like bells at morning mass cause he's ready for new

consequences. he can hold up the weight of him and me even if

it's not always that kind of time, he's got big smiles, he's got firm hands.

- he makes everyone else look pale cause he's shining god damn

golden all over the room, he got something going for him that no one

else can get a grip on: he's that man, and being that man is pretty fuckin

good.