the second part

the second part
says you are too young
to be thinking backwards like this
run away with her
it doesn't matter where
find out what happens
how the story ends
do something, man
there are the keys to your truck
you know where she lives
and how to climb the fire escape

there are the keys to my truck
and between them
and the door of my apartment
is the flexibility of fantasy
and i can see how it twists
and chimes in the wind
always making the exact sounds
i want to hear

the first part
is this string around my ankle
that is tied to you
across these hundreds of miles
it grows taut
until i can almost hear your voice
carrying through the line
i can almost feel you twitching
in your sleep

eventually the string relaxes
like the tide easing away
from the shore
like how your hand fluttered
away from me
on that hot iowa morning
trying to say something to me
that only now
i am beginning to understand