07) Halfway Up

Stride by stride
I pound my way on down the pier,
gears that grind so loud that everyone can hear.
notch by notch,
the mercury slides from green to danger red,
‘till it bursts and blows the top right off my head.

(chorus)
Clockwork springs, so tightly wound
that we can’t resist firing one more round,
but try to look for common ground
when you’re halfway up and I am halfway down.

Line by line, rehearsing all the things I might have said
to your back before you got so far ahead
Neck and neck, pier horses circle ‘round the roundabout,
and neither wins until the metaphor gives out.

(chorus)

Looking out at high tide,
of course, the gulf just seemed too wide,
but when the water went back down
I found I’d washed aground
and you were not around, so,

step by step, I made my way back to dry land,
so relieved to spot you, sitting on the strand.
Inch by inch, we both slide inwards from the park bench ends,
‘till the point we’re ready both to try again.

(chorus)

(Photo: Richard Trevor-Williams)

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