
Laura Tuthall
Like a Weed (2015)
there once was a weed
by the side of the road
that I loved more
than my own soul
I craned my neck
on the headrest
to get closer to it
when we drove past
if I could have turned back
I would have
I said it once
and I’ll say it again
I got quite enough thoughts
to get on with in this head
without you adding
more of your own
‘cause I can grow
the smallest of seeds
into trees
that keep their roots
when you try to chop them down
I stole this tune
from the dark side of town
I ended up
the wrong side of the tracks
with a paperback novel
and one last match
so I lit it up
like a cigarette
and I laughed as it vanished
from end to end
if I could have given up then
then I would have
‘cause I saw that the story
I wove of the world
was in some foreign language
that only me and the birds
could understand
I thought hard about leaving
but I’m like a weed:
I keep my roots
when you try to chop me down
I stole this tune
from the dark side of town
there once was a tree
by the side of the road
that I grew from the seeds
of your all too solid soul
but I grew up on
the dark side of the moon
I had to be water
to live through the truth
now I am a river
that runs through the town
in a concrete canal
where the shade I made
for you never reaches
the flow ‘til the dam
I thought hard about freezing
but what good would it do
if I still keep my molecules
when the thaw comes around
I wrote this tune
from the dark...