Nuclear Family

Six years old in the back of a station wagon
The fallen tree trunk is a sleeping dragon
The car radio's coughing up white noise
The corn crows take what the frost destroys

The streetlights where the insects swarm
The dance recitals, awkward form
The doctor says it's touch and go
The night air holds a hint of snow

The coffee maker's long gone cold
Neglected bread succumbed to mold
And I forgot it's garbage day
And there's so much to throw away

And I blew up a nuclear family
What's that make of the man in me
My father was a flame on a shooting star
Now he sleeps in a frame on an old armoire
Forever, forever

Teenagers stare at their screens
Send me something so obscene
Trust me, I've seen it all
The nerds and the Neanderthals

The haunted house where they'd spray paint
Passage to the patron saint
I heard he used his grandpa's gun
And left a mess for everyone

The paper would not print his name
The property's long since reclaimed
By nature and the elements
With a poetic elegance

And my dog sighs as if she pays the rent
And the ice cracks as the sun warms the cement
Yeah, my dog sighs as if she pays the rent
And the ice cracks as the sun warms the cement