It's a parade
Wobbly heat waves
Children and colours
Canteen food
And the snapping sounds of foldable plastic chairs

Little athletics day
Here he comes
Handkerchief on his head, tucked into his sunglasses

Mum never came

He could be harsh
My sister cried once
There was pressure to win
I never did
I was afraid I'd be clotheslined by that finishing line
Be my guest Flash
I wasn't fast, but I wasn't slow


This is me
Relay leg no.3
Baton in my hand
Whistling thru the air
(Missing you, missing me)
Round the bend
Furthest from the crowd
Running thru heat waves
Angling like a fish, oh yeah
(Missing you, missing me)


I asked for your help
Speaking to that place in my mind that doesn't change

You gave me every weapon for this world
And I still don't know what to do

I wasn't at the funeral
I was far away, making myself out of sand at high tide

Thank you for everything
The way they remembered you, how you made peace come true, I never knew, or maybe I did


This is me
Relay leg no.3
Baton in my hand
Whistling thru the air
(Missing you, missing me)
Round the bend
Furthest from the crowd
Running thru heat waves
Angling like a fish, oh yeah
(Missing you, missing me)




It was really blooming when you left
The police man and his bunny were making fun of your emotions by then
Playing substitute friends
There was something biting that wouldn't stop

But you were appreciated by us
And still are
So many memories


This is me
Relay leg no.3
Baton in my hand
Whistling thru the air
(Missing you, missing me)
Round the bend
Furthest from the crowd
Running thru heat waves
Angling like a fish, oh yeah
(Missing you, missing me)

I woke up this morning feeling low down and *****
Like I don't deserve a thing

I woke up thinking about karma and love equations
And what would I deserve?

You could say it was selfish
You could say it wasn't true

But I want to shine like the sun
And chirp like the birds outside my window


I think about that beautiful smile
That exists just because

And I look at my hands that grab at the air
Like they always have

You could say it was selfish
You could say it wasn't true

But I want to shine like the sun
And chirp like the birds outside my window


In singing and songs and guitars with chords
I have a generosity

And I want everyone to know that I've always cared
That it's always there


You could say it was selfish
You could say it wasn't true

But I want to shine like the sun
And chirp like the birds outside my window


I once said I didn't want to come first
Because I was afraid I'd be clotheslined by the finishing line

If that's where the giving starts and the taking ends
I'll run around like a headless chicken


You could say it was selfish
You could say it wasn't true

But I want to shine like the sun
And chirp like the birds outside my window

I've had many teachers
But one of my favourites
Or most memorable
Was Clive Wansborough

He was my Year 9 English teacher
He said you could call him Clive

We had argumentative debates
About Jimi Hendrix,
Electronic music
The Smiths and vegetarianism

We started each class with a meditation
Closing your eyes
Filling your lungs to 75% capacity
In and out
The sound of his voice
Counting you into relaxation

He said I'd written the best piece of writing
he'd read in 10 years
About my experiences in Little Athletics
Of being afraid of the finishing line
Because coming first would mean getting clotheslined

I think I had a **** in his class once
Pearse and I were mucking around in front
Uncontrollable teenage hormones
Reading ***** literature

But I felt creative in his class
I wrote about a river flowing
from your mind down your arm
And into your pen

And I think he quoted it
When he said something like
If you don't know where to begin
Or don't know what to say
Just write

That was Clive's advice