Ways Of Going Home

 

these are all ways of going home

your parents telling you to keep up

on a long and dusty walk

your siblings pinching soft red cheeks

the scrape and sting of fallen knees

the bark of dogs and autumn leaves

these are all ways of going home

first loves and second chances

and bigger secrets than any one heart

could possibly hold

eyes that look the same

hereditary laughter lines

phone-calls that go unanswered

until the very final ring

these are all ways of going home

working in bars that remind you of

where dad used to sleep

neon signs that stutter and fail

drunks drawn in like moths

while paulie swings towels at flies

like a matador in the arena

these are all ways of going home

sleeping in the mint fields of Oregon

and you’ll fill your pockets because it smells like all the ways

your mother loved you

you’ll be drunk often and get a tattoo

from a girl you’ll never see again

and it’ll get infected and you’ll never

want another one

you’ll burn every bridge

you dare to cross

but lets face

it you were never

really going back

were you