Ignition clicks
the lighter ticks
the needle flicks and
the engine kicks
The city ignites
in morning light
the year is Nineteen Eighty-Six
I was twenty-four with a foot in the door and
I was trying to dig my way to the bank
Had no kid and no honey and man I was hungry and I was getting my money from a hand on the crank

I step into the lobby
Where I turn the earth for hobby
A piston in its motor that runs on cigarettes and coffee

Do I need to set my guard or do you need to set your watch?
Cause dinner won't stay hot for you so I’d kick it up a notch
Now kid you best be shaking your rest cause the deal has been made
So look your stressed hope your suit’s been pressed cause your heading to world trade
That's south sixty-five so look alive as if this ain't your only hope
And don't look to the skies cause your whole world lies within this manila envelope
So here you go and here's their phone case you need to leave a ring
Best of luck to you shake my hand tootle-oo
But before you go just one more thing:

You better not slip on your grip,
Don't think about being late
Cause our world won't wait to toss a kid from silver plate to bitter fate
And children to reiterate I'm speaking of a time
When the bottom was a drop and the top was still a climb

The boiler churns
the melted ferns
the fire burns and
the wheel still turns
The E train weaves
below the streets
carrying a messenger from a brokerage firm
Hands to rail every man dovetailed
In tin on steel within concrete
It seats the sales, the trees that failed
A being here now obsolete

Down the labyrinths of penn
Lies the Metropolitan
Where they sip their roast and read the Post
Like gods among men

And the voice from before that still condemns

You better not slip on your grip,
Don't think about being late
Cause our world won't wait to toss a kid from silver plate to bitter fate
And children to reiterate I'm speaking of a time
When the bottom was a drop and the top was still a climb

The new world ain’t scaring me
With my bag I’ll fly by Mercury

The engine dies
the friend goodbyes
the half moon flies
the baby cries
The barkeep spies
as their fathers’ lies
all liquify before their eyes
To break free we all try
Our hearts and our minds
Sparkle like diamonds on display
Pieces in someone else’s game
What a shame

I’m saying goodbye and I’ll tell you why
We all touch the sky but don’t know how to fly
And now I’m free as I’ve ever been
Found my self a phone down a couple of blocks
Called the boss and told him to go kick rocks
I’ve got a world to save and I don’t know when

-Aug 2016