To put very simply
There must be a thousand ways
Out here in the ozone

Someone asked me once a long time ago
How one becomes a poet
So I inquired as to had he dreamed that night
To wake up and write it all down
Desperately
Then, soon, I told him
It wouldn’t be long
He’s be dreaming all the time
awake or asleep
Of his thousand ways to die

Do you drink until your belly becomes liquid?
While your muses toast you in adoration
Drafting your demise
Leading you to each of pennance
Over dark thorny paths by your hot sweaty hand
Like a curious child
To your thousand ways to survive

So, count on every jeweled finger
Every tarnished shred of daydreams
Becoming slow running nightmare reality
Give credit to every weary angel
Who lights these paths
With broken glass of your shattered mind
To your own very personal thousand ways to strive

But, when reality threatens to hit
Lucidity kicks in your teeth unexpectedly
Just be well aware and warned of your fate
That when that day comes
Finally bank on a thousand ways to deny, alright?

So, I’ll sit in a bar absently rubbing my dry frozen lips

On velveteen of a thoughtlessly scattered petal
Of a once very plump pink rose
If only to dream of a briefly safe garden
Remembering softness gritting my teeth
Confronted with my empty beer glass
Contemplating a thousand ways
Right now, right here, tonight

Music calls me home to you cold and tired
Laughing at this large ring
On my knobby scarred aching finger
Shining risky attention on all my old broken boned imperfections
When you’re on trial a few times over
Defending your life to its hilt
Sacrificing, endlessly footing the bill
You can’t help but dream each night
Of a thousand ways to thrive, alright?

That crisp scent of fresh money
Sharp and clean as a razor
Fast new cars, fancy tastes, exotic rituals
Accidents and miracles
Enough virgin rope to hang yourself by
On special occasions
Or, for specific escalations of monumental poetic potential
When you are distracted
By your own flow of blood
Glimpses of hot stolen heroes
Raising flames into your flying time
I’m sure you’ll find my love, at least
A thousand ways to live tonight