We all have a friend
Who didn't make it very old
Whether you were there at the end
Or somewhere in life's between
I bet you would give your weight in gold
For a chance just to see them,
For one more night out in the world
Or even just a small talk.
All you have is a short mental walk
Through the times that seem too small
Stuck in a place without you at all,
And I wonder how you're doing
Wherever you are.

I made my first friend in second grade,
He was the kid who seemed to always find a way
He learned to ride a unicycle
Making his own parade.
He got me out of my house in the middle of fall,
Went swimming in my pool,
While the algae was stuck to the walls.
It was freezing and slimy.
I'm sorry your world was unwinding
And I wish I would've known you more.

I don't have the right words
Because truly none of them are right
I've thought about the fact you aren't here
On quite a few nights.
I send my regards to all you knew,
I'm sorry to say a part of my childhood
Feels like it passed with you.
This is the only way I have to show
I miss a man I barely got to know,
My old friend John O.

You take an aspirin a day
Because they say it's a miracle drug
In a few days your blood pressure is raised,
Prescribed losartan from a doctor
But only a dollar copay,
the insurance pays and all is ok. Ok?

You wake up with dizziness and muscle cramps,
You can't take the pain, no problem.
"Just take some meclizine and tizanidine.
All those side effects will go away."
But the muscle relaxant makes me drowsy
In the morning, it makes me unable to focus at all.
"Naturally, here try low dose Adderall!"

That seems to be working but now
I can't seem to sleep well through the night.
My body is tired but my mind stills spins.
"I've got it, just five milligrams of Ambien."
So a losartan, meclizine, tizanidine, Adderall, Ambien, oh and my aspirin.
And all is ok, ok?

Doctor, I don't know what to do,
I take everything you tell me to
And I just don't feel like I'm myself.
"Sir, take some sertraline, it will help,
It sounds like your depressed"
And doctor something in this mix
Is causing horrid back pain
"No problem, some pain killers
You'll feel like yourself again."

You take an aspirin a day
Because they say it's a miracle drug

I know why no one wants to be the hero,
A hero's story doesn't end well.
He doesn't get to see a golden gate,
He leads you there then walks away.
Heroes can inspire all but themselves
Placed on shelves waiting to fall
And that downfall is the story they'll tell.
Watch and see for yourself.

I wish more people wanted to be heroes,
Tie their capes in broad day and save
Because look, I mean really look,
The villains aren't stopping,
You hear the newscasters jaws dropping
Every night that another kid won't be alright.
So we wave white flags as victims,
And I don't know about you
But I'm ready to fight
For something so much bigger than me.
Come and be one for yourself

I know why no one wants to be the hero,
They let the bad guys have all the fun.
The vigilantes can't work a system
With zero liability who's to blame
I don't believe I can stop it one on one
But extend a hand to you all the same.
Why can't we all be heroes,
And stop all the distress, you and I.
No one wants to be a hero
Because evil will never die.

You can watch the world tick,
You can watch the sun tock.
Spinning to infinity, trapped on a big clock.
Time never tells when your pendulum stops
Breathing to be leaving only a breath behind.
Leave behind a legacy, holding onto what's mine.
Only to realize that nothing is mine
Just a ticket to the gate passed living lines.

Life slips through fingers like a blur,
Conversations twist into a slur,
But the rain is sweet around me
When I leave, let everything be as it were,
It's beautiful by mistake,
It's beautiful with magnificent purpose.
Let it exist and keep greed away.

Don't tell the kids not to play
I know more accidents happen that way
But so do most of the memories.
We create rules to stay safe,
We create rules for kids to break,
Somewhere in that a friendship for them to make.
And if we all make it home
We can laugh it off along the way.
We can laugh it off along the way.

I wrote a book about making riches,
Sold it for twenty dollars a copy,
And made a lot of riches,
Open it up and it said to just do this.
Most people understand the ball
But keep missing the pitches.
As soon as you have the keys,
Every lock appears to be switching.

They say you'll make it far
With a modest heart,
An open mind and an honest tongue.
The person saying that was shaking a hand
In his pocket hiding a gun,
A couple side deals that felt like solid leads,
Stealing an honest man's wallet while he bleeds.
But you take it at face value
Instead of biting the hand that feeds.
Why? Because you don't have a choice it seems.

I'm not a starving artist,
I don't have the gift to be,
I'll stroke out stressing on a job
That stands with or without me
Retire then expire, dance the dance of fools,
pay into social security I'll never get to use.
Go ahead and tax my tea,
I can't afford the tea to tax
Just don't ever move that carrot
Or I may fall off these tracks.

There's spiders crawling up my back
They walk beneath my skin
Following my veins as tracks
If I give in to the itch and scratch,
They'll only go deeper down it seems
In a whack-a-mole, I'll never win
There's no cut to end the scene
A T virus living within me
Too young for this vaccine.

There's a dagger digging in my side
Giving a twist every five minutes or so
As hard as I've tried, I can't remove it
For a few weeks then I guess it resides
I don't know if they can tell me
Why I always throw dice and end up
With such luck of drawing snake eyes
But they seem to be on the slither
Scaling quickly up and down my spine

There's a room that's been spinning a bit,
A headache for days that just won't quit,
I'm losing focus and maybe you noticed
But I'm trying hard not to throw a fit.
I'm anxious and truly I don't wish to mingle,
I'm twenty - six and I have the shingles
And my roof is leaking a bit.

They want to know what I want to see
Before I kick the can.
I'm just hoping to see tomorrow,
I'd be happy with just that with the life I've ran.
I've borrowed time more than twenty times
No need to remind, I'm blessed in cursed flesh
And if that casket in the back of my mind
Isn't enough to get me choked up
I'm not sure I would deserve to be re-woke up.
I'd public speak a hundred times to a stadium crowd
Than to watch this body into the ground.
I don't want to see the wonders,
I just wonder if I will live to see old age.
Turn the page.

And to a father to me, for years wasn't around,
Whatever the case, the man I am is my own,
But I give you the permission to be proud.
I watched my life get uprooted, still grown.
I promise, my kid will always have solid space.
Even if it takes me digging ditches,
His life won't be ditched for another.
He's the precident for a family hindsight me wished.
I'm a character unforgettable to strangers as I've flown
To most relatives I'm a complete unknown.

I don't look for any pity, the opposite of it
Look over the city, making every hit.
I'm a walking statistically non-existent man
You gotta kick it up because yes you can
**** the chains that you think hold you down
But be aware that when you find success
The crickets turn to fake friends saying
They have never not been around.
And that's even worse than silence sounds.