School of Thought

A second could sustain you for days--as the clock nears zero, see how time inflates
Expending whatever it takes in the struggle not to let it go to waste
All the while, searching for a catch, a scab to poke at or an itch in search of a scratch
The time was never meant to last--nothing will be left, you're not coming back

Go cross your name out with this pen, you'll never lecture at the school of thought again
You knew the stakes that you laid down--you know that loser leaves town

A statue on the side of the road--devoid of context, no one can recall the code
But we still pass along the tales in hushed whispers and misremembered details
Do they keep your name around in your heads, in your hearts, rolled around in your mouths
Or is every last toil and tear drowning in a flood that washed out the years

Go cross your name out with this pen, you'll never lecture at the school of thought again
You knew the stakes that you laid down--you know that loser leaves town
But I can still see trace amounts of things you freely gave before things went south
Like when you called me out of the blue from the roof of your house

I remember how you could work a crowd, a dead silence snapped into a chorus of shouts
The greatest trick you never taught was knowing when to back out
And I can still see trace amounts of things you freely gave before things went south
Like when you called me out of the blue from the roof of your house
So cross your name out with this pen, you'll never lecture at the school of thought again
You knew the stakes that you laid down--you know that loser leaves town