grind
by Jeremy Maxwell       9-02-00

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the wheels are grinding upon the tracks
they are slowly pulling away
my teeth are grinding in front of their backs
I'm slowly beginning to sway

the sound in my brain is screaming at me
tearing my mind from its frame
asking what the world wants me to be
and why I don't want the same

the sound of the metal screeching inside
as the wheels, they slowly turn
my tears spring up from the place they hide
my skin is beginning to burn

not one looks back as they pull away
taking my life as they go
leaving me there with nothing to say
hating the tears as they flow

the wheels are grinding upon the tracks
my peace is shattered glass
my teeth are grinding in front of their backs
as I watch them join the mass

the darkness falls and the cold returns
and my bones shake in my skin
my teeth chatter and my skin still burns
the screams become voices of men

I turn around and I walk away
hands in my pockets to thaw
I walk ahead to find what I may
my spirit jagged and raw

but the sound remains inside my brain
screaming its words out of fear
grinding sounds of tragedy and pain
the men on the corner leer

the wheels are grinding upon the tracks
and my tears fall in a stream
my teeth are grinding in front of their backs
trying to wake from the dream

but in the darkness a face appears
with eyes that are open wide
and some of the fog then disappears
and the stars no longer hide

and the grinding sound, it fades away
just a little at a time
and once more I'm beginning to sway
caught by a reason and rhyme

her hair is the night, her face the moon
her eyes diamonds in the sky
her voice the ocean, her name a rune
and once again do I cry

the wheels no longer grind on the tracks
the only sound is her breath
my teeth no longer grind at their backs
as my pain dies its own death

and in the darkness my smile, it grows
as she takes me by the hand
and whispers secrets of peace of mind
and we walk to a new land

the tracks fall away, out of my mind
the past disappears with a sigh
the boxcars of pain no longer grind
as we walk away from the lie

our fingers locked and our eyes ahead
our hearts walking side by side
no cares remain for tears we've shed
and no longer do we hide

and wheels don't grind as there are no tracks
just she and I are in here
my teeth don't grind as there are no backs
love, in the absence of fear.