Lion in the Streets
Truth is I’ve been burnt before
Hot white scars on sensitive skin
Truth is I’ve been told “no more”
Only to begin again
And maybe [Just Maybe] there’s a Lion in the Streets
Waiting to devour me
Rip this thumping hope in my chest
To shredded paper sheets
And maybe that recycled strain will rain down fertile and make it plain
For what doesn't kill you could make you bleed
If you face that Lion in the Streets
And maybe if I close the door
I won’t have to face it anymore
And instead of possibilities
I could cover myself in satin sheets.
I could cover myself in woolen “what-ifs”
I could cover myself in ancient myths
I could cover myself in disbelief
In fear of that Lion in the Streets
In fear of what could, or couldn’t be
In fear of what I find incomplete
In fear of never living my dream
In fear of fearing what it seems
Like.
Truth is, I could change my everything
Try and control my every change
Try and change my every control
Group my things and my wishes
Plug the walls with inhibitions
Take my life of indecision
Brick my heart up to the limit
Limit my truth and limit my freedom
Question everything I believe in
Throw away the key to reason
Wonder why I can’t be pleased, then
Find my nothing in fertile season
Lament my ways and call it treason
Cause there’s a Lion in the Street
And I am bleeding
But it’s my jaws that did the kneading
Dough is rising,
Plans devising,
And I contemplate compromising
Where I stand and how I sleep
To avoid that Lion in the Street.
[is it me?]
- - - - -
So I sit.
On my hands I sit.
Can’t even twiddle my thumbs
Can’t say my hands are tied
I can just complain they’re numb
My paralysis is a crime
Not a tragedy if you sum
Sum up every moment
Into wondering: what’s to come
No time to move
No time to breathe
Didn't you hear that Lion in the Street?
Better stop
Better sleep
For tomorrow it will be...
A better time
A brand new day
A whole new world
An unknown way
And I’ll conquer it, maybe
But now
I’ll block, I'll lock, I'll rot my mind until it is "safe", until it is "time"
For "One Day’s" opportunity.
Hush now, can’t you hear it?
Wait now, don't draw near it.
It’s gonna Ro-oa-oa-oa-oar.
And you will hear it, and fear it.
You best let the fright tuck you in tight
You’d have wings if you were meant for flight
You’d be a different kind of breed
For what doesn't kill you could make you bleed
You could suffer much if you concede
If you face that Lion in the Streets.
Truth is I’ve been here before
Cold black scars on calloused skin
Walls broken down “no more”
Only to begin again.