Empire Builder - Laura Gibson

this is not

an escape

but I don’t know how to hold someone without losing my grip

You’ll say I

was bound to leave

since I first stepped

across your borders

since I crawled

into your skin

thought I heard you whisper in the dark

that you knew where the light would be

thought I saw your shape against the black

thought I felt you moving beside me

we are not alone

and we are more alone

than we’ve ever been

so hurry up and lose me

hurry up and find me

again

so I’ll pass

the lumber mills

I’ll pass the coal mines

and the parks

and the dried up oil fields

I’ll pass a thousand lonely pines

that bend their backs against the sun

but I’ll mistake the station birds

for the sound of my phone ringing

thought I heard you whisper in the dark

that you knew where the light would be

don’t wait for me to walk a straight line

you can only hold your breath so long

we are not alone

and we are more alone

than we’ve ever been

so hurry up and lose me

hurry up and find me

again

I am no less found to you

than when I crossed into your silence

when I held your solitade

but you never liked it

when I’d play dead

and you wondered why my lovesongs are always the grieving kind

why I wonder all to search for my reflections in the crowd

oh, forget I said love

and also, don’t forget I said love

we are not alone

and we are more alone

than we’ve ever been

so hurry up and lose me

hurry up and find me

again