Breathing Lessons

All the things I've called my own

Are in garbage bags in mom's garage, mildewing

All the places I've called home are changing

All left standing is a two man tent

As a symbol, of my fading independence

And a car, with insurance I can't pay for



We've all lost boats before

Attacked by pirates, shot down in war

If we're lucky, we lose a dingy

If it's bad the Titanic goes down



And a woman I know, she said take your time

Between the breathing out of the old and the breathing in...

And it's hard to swim, when life seems like a sinking ship

And the breakers are crashing, crashing in, and you need oxygen, oxygen, oxygen



Yesterday I got my degree

Now I'm educated, unemployed, and fancy free

In love with a way of living

That knows too much about soul, nothing about money



Sometimes I feel like I'm losing ground

Like I'm in quick sand, going down

I want to reach tomorrow on a non-stop flight

Want to pretend I'm in control, like I've got some long term plans for my life...



I wake up scared in the night,

Heart pounding in strange places

Dream of post industrial cities and of apathetic faces...



And a woman I know, she said take your time

Between the breathing out of the old and the breathing in...

And it's hard to swim, when life seems like a sinking ship

And the breakers are crashing, crashing in, and you need oxygen, oxygen, oxygen...