Somebody said to me
Who is your favourite person?
But don't say your boyfriend or girlfriend,
Your mother or father, or sister or brother,
Nor your best friend through years gone by
If you looked at your whole life as a story
Who would be your favourite character?

I thought it would take so long to answer
But then it came to me so smoothly
Like a dimmer switch turning on
Smooth, but so quick, so obvious

"Joseph" I answer.
He s my special needs cousin
He will never surpass the mentality of a 3 year old
He loves trucks and buses and traffic lights
He loves fans and blonde girls and rainbows
He loves my mother, his auntie
He loves a girl from his special needs school
He loves anybody that will stay still long enough
He loves the BeeGees
He loves wearing mums glasses

At 26 years old, he is a man
But a man that will only ever be a child
He is the favourite, he is the most special
For he is the articulation of what human nature is capable of
He is the picture of a man not influenced by people
He is the face of the most basic human ability
And he is so positive

26 years on and he still asks
He says he will drive buses when he grows up
He says he will buy a laptop when I make money
He says he will go out with Blonde Girl when he's older
He says maybe he will buy a iPhone when he's older
Grammar was never his strong point
But who would correct a 3 year old who said 'a' not 'an'?

He is a simple human being
But represents our complexity all the same
But the best thing about him is that he shows
When you take away so many major human traits
The leftover base line is an optimist
He is full of hope

To me, he signals that deep down,
Human hope
Human optimism
It is inane

It's the thrill of the chase.
It's the climb of the mountain
The stairs in the staircase
The thirst for the fountain

It's breaking the barrier
It's proving them wrong
It's getting what I want
It's proving I'm strong

It's him that I'm after
It's him I won't keep
It's him I will ruin
It's him that won't sleep.

It's me that shall conquer
It's me that shall climb
It's me who'll survive
I will be fine.

I have enough for a ticket there
I doubt I'll get the chance to get one back.
I could be there soon
If I had more strength
But I'm stuck here in my seat;
No ticket, just a pen.

I'd be there in a couple days
If only I could get in
Though they wouldn't let me through for this
If I tried, maybe I could find a way
I will get to you
And in the face of a gun, of a knife, of evil
I will protect you
I will cover you
And I will take you away
I will carry you until my legs give out
I'll take you on my shoulders until my arms go numb
I will give you water while my mouth goes dry
Maybe we'd make it, if I really did try

I will take you far away as I could possibly go
I will take a bullet
Have my throat sliced
Maybe be crucified

To protect you from "humanity".
We'll go somewhere away from it
And start something new.

I would, if I could,
I'd take you somewhere new.