This Happened Once Before

Sing me something new. And it doesn't have to involve anything that makes you feel uncomfortable. Although it would be better if it did. There's so much more tension when comfort isn't involved. But it's really as you like it. Don't let me force my own conventions on you. They're better left to me. And I'll figure out what to do with them later.

Careful. Don't look so rushed. This is a place one comes to to relax. To find a communal sense of flow, and go with it. To go with the chipped unfinished brickwork wall with the crumbling plaster. The antique mirrored dresser serving as a condiments table. The perfectly matched tables and chairs, interspersed with a wholly random assortment of sofas and coffee tables. The clientele, cut from an identical mould that still allows each to maintain some tiny expression of individuality. We're all facsimiles of each other, because we embellish our differences in the same way. Oh go soak your head. Yes, yes, good idea. But the floor's wooden and it just wouldn't do at all to get it wet. I'll soak my head later, when I'm outside. And I'll look forward to it. Nothing beats the heat like a good head soaking.

Hurry up and wait for the next song to play. Something to keep me awake. Something that will give me a feeling I've never had before. I want to feel that everything I've ever felt before was misconstrued reality, and that life really starts here. And it might. It might start here. That might be the truest thing I've said all day. That everything is a lie. I like that idea. The only truth I speak is slanderous. 'You're a liar!' I cried out to myself. But at least I have something to say. Too true, too true. And if that's the case, bring on the lies. To be entertained is ever worth more than hearing the truth.

There's a fly on the wall.

Sometimes, if you squint your eyes, and listen really carefully, you can be that fly on the wall. And catch all the faux-secrets of the myriad people passing by just beneath you. Listen in on all those secrets that can only be divulged amidst the hustle and bustle of life. Amidst the thousand concealing conversations of the uncaring masses. Listen closer. '... ..... .. ....' And I couldn't have said it better myself. Remember those words. They might one day change your life. And now let's all nod our heads and smile.

Coffee only lasts for so long. After that there's only conversation to keep us going. And whatever lingering feelings we can't keep bottled up. Emotions? Check. Emotions in check? Get back to me on that, and I'm sure I'll have an amazing story to tell you about emotional repression and the withholding of feelings. Varying degrees of life getting in the way. But did you see that? Did you see the way he looked at me? Smug little prick. But maybe that's all he has. Be smug about nothing and you've got something. We all need something. And whatever you can imagine, whatever you can dream into life, well... that's enough said. Say too much and it stops meaning anything. All the meaning gets washed away by the flood of following words.

I'll follow you down. And wouldn't we then call you the noblest of creatures? But not that far. For there is after all a difference between nobility and the foolhardy act of one who doesn't know any better. Thinking that, it's probably better if you don't follow me down at all. It's really not that far after all, and it'll be quicker to come back up if you're not blocking the return. There there. There's a good lad. Better luck next time, and luck has nothing to do with it, but as long as you believe it does, then you'll do alright.

Right. Now, let me tell you a story....