7/2/91- What Are My Choices?

                                                    7/2/91
                                         Stuttgart,3:40AM
 
             What Are My Choices?
 
 
         Each man who travels along this way
         Fastened by commitment,distance and love
         At one time feels his shoulders converge
         With the contradiction of our lives
         Running fast for so long
         We look for balance in imbalance,
         Home everywhere but home.
 
         Our sirens called in different voices
         Sweet sounds not of expectation
         An answer for those not questioning
         Consolation prize for others,yet
         Here we find our families
         Red headed stepchildren in foster care
         Decisions made and printed for us
         The rules few but cast of grey iron
         Bars bent,drank at,played and shook.
 
         The others look on in disbelief
          "wow,it must be cool..."
         "I could never do that..."
         "What you must have seen..."
         Our tired eyes have seen plenty
         Of rented beds,old news
         Mutant phone bills and post card stamps
         Places shampoo should never go
         Ask me where the McEmbassy is
         The loading dock,nearest laundromat
         It there a museum in this town?
         ...where are we?
 
    
         It is not all indelicate windging
         The priceless moments we have saved
         For children,future ex-wives and unbelievers
         How blessed we are to be alive
         To enjoy what we do and complain about it
 
         And still be able to do it again
         The love we've shared among ourselves
         New brothers,kid sisters and perverted uncles;
 
         That the sun rises earlier in Oslo
         And the feeling's the same about 3pm
         Wherever you are today;
         The part of all of us that wants to be home
         To be secure and loved;
         That this life does not stop love
         For our family and friends
         Just takes us away for a lifetime or two.
 
         Some of us do not quite fit
         Back there,
         That place that everyone else has
         This reality is fine,thank you
         Where childhoods denied live free and long
         Just do your job and play all you want
         As hard and as weird as you can
         There's a few of us that are watching you
         Will pick you up,tell you it's been done before
         With a smile...
         A sad smile.
 
         White picket fence can't keep us away
         Beautiful babies who grow unseen
         The One who anchors and glues our world
         Cannot keep us at home today
         The promise of ambrosia
         Challenges four cities we have never seen
         We who make the impossible happen
         We who make the simple complicated
         We who can't remember what our homes look like
         Without a tear and some serious thought.
        
         And we do this of free will again and again
         We are all part of this thing
         When a punter comes up and says"I was there"
         You can smile,remember and get the date wrong
         I mean,what are you,an itinerary?