ani difranco knows me

[i am out here studying stones/
trying to learn to be less alive/
using all of my will/
to keep very still/
still even on the inside/
i've cut all of the pertinent wires/
so my eyes can't make that connection/
i am holding my breath/
i am feigning my death/
when I'm looking in your direction/

'course numb is an old hat/
old as my oldest memories/
see that one's my mother/
and that one's my father/
and that one in the hat, that's me/
it's a skill I'd hoped to abandon/
when I got out on the open road/
but any more pent up emotion/
and I think I'm gonna explode/

there's never been an endeavor so strange/
as trying to slow the blood in my veins/
to keep my face blank/
as a stone that just sank/
until not a ripple remains/
i am high above the tree line/
sitting cross legged on the ground/
when all of the forbidden fruit has fallen and rotted/
that's when I'm gonna come down/

'course numb is an old hat/
old as my oldest memories/
see that one's my mother/
and that one's my father/
and that one in the hat, that's me/
it's a skill I'd hoped to abandon/
when I got out on the open road/
but any more pent up emotion/
and I think I'm gonna explode]