
Laura Tuthall
Unchartable (2015)
midnight on Claremont street
late in May
the sway of the flowerless branches
against my petal skin
I think I am in
a story worth singing about
but pink is just shy red
yeah pink is just shy red
you used an anchor
instead of your oars
but I’m just the tide
I won’t stay by the shore
midnight at the crack park
hiked up to the rock on the hill
fit my body parts into
the hollowest minerals
lying on top of the world
tied down to this course
by the core of the earth
you know that sink is just
shy swim
and I am the bucket
your poured concrete in
you made me an anchor
instead of a storm
but inside I’m the tide
I won’t stay underneath the boat
jingle bells
on convenience store doors
they mark the space
between my place and yours
I gotta kick off the shoes
that the past four years
were travelled in
and yeah it hurts hurts hurts
that I never heard them
knocking at my door
it's like they take
the whole damn city with them
you thought you knew
where the x was
where to point your compass
and where to dig in the sand
I tried hard to be
a major key
to stay still on the map
but oh well I got trapped
in the pull of it
in the weight of all these words
that seem to separate my sway
from yours
I gotta sync up
gotta chart this thinking
while I can
before it lands on
forever parallel streets
back in June
the truth buried somewhere
but I don’t care
you are the no to my nowhere
my levee to break
not a moment to lose
not a second to waste
‘cause pink is just shy red
and without the white paint
I’ll stain with each breathe
with each note
with each step down
each summer street
yeah I’m me;
what can tide do
but drown back into the sea