sittin' in the bus station
waiting for number thirty one
watching the people around me
the woman with the little boy
and the old one looking lost
buses come and buses go
but the one I want never comes

I walk outside to stand on the sidewalk
waiting for number thirty one
ask the people where it is
finally they say it disappeared
somewhere in the north of the city
it could be here any moment
but I watch and it never comes

sitting on the bench in worry
waiting for number thirty one
to give me its precious cargo
they told me it would be here an hour ago
they tell me there's nothing they can do
they'll say there's no more information
and I watch for the bus that never comes

well I've been here too many minutes
waiting for number thirty one
my feet are hurting from standing so long
and I'm wondering if the bus is tired too
is the radio broken or does the driver care
I'm standing in chilling anticipation
watching for the bus that never comes

buses come and buses go
but I'm waiting for a special one
although with each new arrival I wonder
what if I'm looking for the wrong number
this bus or that bus could be my bus
and I could be here forever
waiting for a bus that never comes

little boy wanders through the cold dead town
he doesn't know how love ever let him down
like leaves in the wind we all blow away
and little boys wake up to another empty day
little girl in blue jeans and her cowboy hat
doesn't know much but knows where she's at
leans over and brags that her daddy's in jail
says she sends him letters in the US mail
old man on the curb got nothing to lose
runs his mouth a lot but the act's all a ruse
he's been through life he knew the beat
burnt it all to gain a streetside seat
momma on the corner's fourteen years old
the high point of her story's already been told
she had her dreams and her talent but that's all gone
the sun set on her life before she had her dawn
they call it "people" and show the faces on TV
name it culture and a new way for men to see
but not in the reflection of the mournful eyes
there's no joy in the echoes of their sighs

twirling landscapes on my fingertips
rummaging the depths of the sky
the shattered world at a glance
broken pieces failing to mend
and in the yelled whispers waiting
the syllables of frozen fear
echo the heartbeat of silence

the compass casually announces its disturbance
as if it weren't obvious by the needle of spinning red
guess I should've left the magnet alone
but I'm famous for finding every attraction irresistible
and it seemed so very near the road

swirling colors in my hand
sweet chocolate turns into dirt
believing in the impossible
but living in the now
I want a cutting scream
ripping through this mistiness
to break against the night

the roadsigns are all covered by dark green ivy
and the path is overgrown with tall brown weeds
I conclude I'm traveling in the wrong direction
but maybe only few find their way out here
and perhaps I'm supposed to continue on

maybe
if I stayed here
maybe
I'd be all right but
maybe
it'd be a dull life

lost in the old cliché
for every step forward
falling two steps back
it's life in full reverse
when I try to speed ahead

I repeat every single word
but lack even the least of these
the utter emptiness within
isn't some delusion or slight
I'm not sure I want more tonight

by grace you are all
I said I knew the truth
but this breath you gave me
to ever sing your praises
grows short through my misuse

I was born audacious
my life in pursuit of change
it's all from your perfection
but if in you I find completion
can I still call myself complete

where's the line divisive
marking my individuality
if I lose myself in you
will I ever again find me
isn't it illusive fundamentally

lose me and keep me
the paradoxes of truth
bound by my four dimensions
and I know you are free
but it is I who cannot see

standing here in holy hope
trusting what I cannot believe
faith alone and simple words
to sum the things I can't conceive
lying far beyond my reach

it's you I say so confidently
but I know not what I speak
if I begged you like solomon
would I become any wiser
if you showed me what I've seen

black and white with grey about the edges
my honest words just stopped ringing true
and with all the wandering in specific directions
this haphazard life always comes back to you

when truth falls from unclean lips of stone
and the ground rebels at the acid stain
the flowers decide to reluctantly grow
and you wash them in redeeming rain

speaking the language of overflow
sound piled up in scattered heaps
the needle lost herself in the last straw
but this memory of light she keeps

the water is clean and my hands are not
yet I'm supposed to shine in the dark
four thousand tongues are still too short
and you alone can make your mark

how often do I see
the darkness that is surrounding me?
and does my heart
ache when I see that you're falling apart?
I want the words to say
to show you the sunniest side of the day
but they don't come
the magic inside doesn't come

a smile can be guilty
in the presence of utter despair
you couldn't forgive me
if I laughed when you were like this

joy shuddering
your emotions are only fluttering
but you stare at me
is silence all that my answer can be?
I want hope on your side
but all mine seems to be hidden away inside
in your dimmed eyes
before the face of truth imitation flies

and I don't know I don't know
I can hold you when you cry
and mourn when you mourn
but it still seems excruciating
the pain you've internalized
is something I could never see
but I'm here if you can stand me

wearing your size dress
I took a walk near the moon
I pretended I knew
why everything ended so soon
and the world rusted away
like the wind in my hair
it was another language, then
but we didn't really care
worship the elaborate
and sober the beauty
behind our lucious dreams
lie our delicate screams
and the woman at the window
has got something to say
about fragments of the memories
that never got us through the day