Philip Labes Aftershocks
The other night there was an earthquake
I ran outside in my boxers
With my laptop and my passport in my hand
In my head it was the big one
I imagined my apartment
Turned from concrete into rubble into sand
And every night since then
Around twelve-fifteen AM
As I'm cooling down and getting into bed
I feel my mattress start to shake
And I'm jolted back awake
But it always turns out it's in my head
Nobody tells you about the magnitudes of heartache
When you think it's done there's more
And I'm swaying like a waltz
Under lines for all my faults
Somebody ought to nail me to the floor
Aftershocks
I forget sometimes that I'm just living on a rock
I take walks
But we're never really over
There's a chasm in the clock
And you don't pass with the dawn
You go on and on and on
With new people I'm afraid
I might have to run away
Near my bed I keep an extra pair of shoes
And to ease my troubled mind
I check seismographs online
But nobody else is picking up on you
And it only takes one person
To convince you for forever
That you don't live on solid ground
I'm not stable, and I ache
And my furniture all shakes
Even though you're not around
Nobody tells you about the magnitudes of heartache
When you think it's done, there's more
And I'm swaying like a waltz
Under lines for all my faults
Somebody outta nail me to the floor
Aftershocks
I forget sometimes that I'm just living on a rock
I take walks
But we're never really over
There's a chasm in the clock
And you don't pass with the dawn
You go on and on
And on my back in my bed
I get the shakes
I'm still awake
All alone in my head
Everything breathes
Everything breaks
Nobody tells you about the magnitudes of heartache
When you think it's done, there's more
And I'm swaying like a waltz
Under lines for all my faults
Somebody outta nail me to the floor
Aftershocks
I forget sometimes that I'm just living on a rock
I take walks
But we're never really over
There's a chasm in the clock
And you don't pass with the dawn
You go on and on
And on and on
And on
