Parallel Lines

If you found the words Would you really say them? Or stutter through the verse With mumbled punctuation? Remembering the line, an empty metaphor That you savored by yourself, you're never cured If I forgot the lines, is it easy enough to fake it? Or do you need a moment to re-memorize And model it like a curse half-disguised? Leers, jeers, whispers, and the tears That final taste before you're taken away Odds, ends, final amends It's alright to say it Just as long as you don't really think so Give me a little room To get on with concentration Just enough to know What I'm missing in education Borrowing all the hours that you gave to me It's a wonder I could ever breathe Under all your thoughts You'll hear the floating whisper Of all the things you were that have been paralleled All the voices that were raised and finally fell Leers, jeers, whispers, and the tears That final taste before you're taken away Odds, ends, final amends It's alright to say it Just as long as you don't really think so No lights, no show No sets – that's all you get No waits, no calls No written tests for what you know Leers, jeers, whispers, and the tears That final taste before you're taken away Odds, ends, final amends It's alright to say it Just as long as you don't really think so