There was no time
no time to think
no time to remember
no time to ponder
what no time meant

I had no time
the clock told me so
I took my daughter to school
and she wanted
to hold my hand
and be near me for awhile
I told her
that Daddy had no time
but she cared little
and pulled me closer
so Daddy stayed

I had no time
and the man behind the counter
made mistakes
and took longer
he kept peering nervously at me
wondering when I would start yelling
Instead I smiled
He rushed to finish
and apologized
"Don't worry about it. Thanks and have a nice day."
He relaxed and grinned.

There was no time. I had no time.
But I stopped to hold the door open
and pleasantly nod.
I stopped to ask how she was doing
and she turned to look in my eyes
and smiled a true smile
"Fine. Thank you for asking."

People glanced at their watches
but there was no need for me
I was comfortable
in the knowledge
that I had no time. No time at all

And the man on the corner
dressed like Uncle Sam
waved a sign
telling me
it was Tax Time

Time was forever running away from me
and I had no hope to catch it
But that was ok.
Yes, that was quite alright.

: Permalink

Published: (2005-04-08 16:48:15.0)

Tom Waits is a cool cat, and that's the probably the best way to describe him. I suppose a few people would throw in "strange", but that means they don't understand. And that's ok not to understand. As long as you are open to enjoying those things. Dig?

I haven't listened to him in awhile, but there he was, prominently displayed in Andrew's AIM status. So the song "The Ocean Doesn't Want Me" popped in my head. so here we are. There's a great explanation of what the song means via the Tom Waits Supplement. And if you read far enough, you'll even find out what strangels are.

"The ocean doesn't want me today
But I'll be back tomorrow to play
And the strangels will take me down deep in their brine
The mischievous braingels
Down into the endless blue wine
I'll open my head and let out all of my time
I'd love to go drowning
And to stay and to stay
But the ocean doesn't want me today
I'll go in up to here
It can't possibly hurt
All they will find is my beer and my shirt
A rip tide is raging and the life guard is away
But the ocean doesn't want me today
The ocean doesn't want me today"

: Permalink

Published: (2005-04-08 16:31:57.0)