Butterscotch

Fever dreaming 'bout a Steller's call
Evergreens don't grow in Cardonal
So I don't feel close to you
And maybe that's good for me

'Cause I've been down and out and broke my spine
I can talk about that any time
And you're so good at asking
And I'm certain that's good for me

Never felt so warm in winter
Never knew how sweet the smell of Jeffrey pine

To be so close to all these lips and eyes
And still feel so alone way deep inside
You've convinced me when the days are hot
The air in Quincy smells like butterscotch

John Martyn singing in the village green
"Happy as a man can naturally be"
Without Mary Jane, sugar cane, slipped between the bars
If I weren't so inane, I'd let you fly and wouldn't try so hard

So feed the dragon on the sunrise stove
This little green house is always caught without its clothes
When snow falls, these little walls are colder than the eyes
Of every burned-out lover who used to keep another warm at night

Sun on my face in winter
A crack in the ice, "Quick, get down on all fours"

I only have to let you talk
Now the water's warm and the trees are butterscotch
As sure as live oaks keep their leaves
As strong as roots that spread down underneath

Appreciated for your weakest parts
Segregated for the things you aren't
And there are so many things I'll never be
How did you make peace with it so easily

Morning shouts with the sound of trains
This city makes shadows and your redwood trees make shade
Filling up an empty thought
With the warmest word for me, butterscotch