Off He Goes

Know a man
His face seems pulled and tense
Like he’s riding on a motorbike
In the strongest winds
So I approach with tact
Suggest that he should relax
But he’s always moving much too fast
Said he’ll see me on the flip side
Of this trip he’s taking for a ride

He’s been taking too much on
There he goes with his perfectly
Unkempt clothes
There he goes

He’s yet to come back
But I’ve seen his picture
It doesn’t look the same up on the rack
We go way back
I wonder about his insides
It’s like his thoughts are too big for his size

He’s been taken, where? I don’t know
Off he goes with his perfectly
Unkept hope
There he goes

And now I rub my eyes
For he has returned
Seems my preconceptions are what
Should have been burned
For he still smiles, and he’s still strong
Nothing’s changed but the surrounding bullshit
That has grown

And now he’s home and we’re laughing
Like we always did
My same old, same old friend
Until a quarter to ten
I saw the strain creep in
He seems distracted and I know just what
Is gonna happen next
Before his first step
He is off again