The Slant/The Diner - Ani DiFranco

the slant

a building settling around me my figure, female, framed crookedly

in the threshold of the room

door scraping floorboards

with every opening

carving a rough history of bedroom scenes

the plot hard to follow

the text obscured

in the fields of sheets

slowly gathering the stains

of seasons spent lying there

red and brown

like leaves fallen

the colors of an eternal cycle

fading with the wash cycle

and the rinse cycle

again an unfamiliar smell

like my name misspelled

or misspoken

a cycle broken

the sound of them strong

stalking talking about their prey

like the way hammer meets nail

pounding, they say

pounding out the rhythms of attraction

like a woman was a drum like a body was a weapon

like there was something more they wanted

than the journey

like it was owed to them

steel toed they walk

and i’m wondering why this fear of men

maybe it’s because i’m hungry

and like a baby i’m dependent on them to feed me i am a work in progress

dressed in the fabric of a world unfolding

offering me intricte patterns of questions

rhythms that never come clean

and strengths that you still haven’t seen

I’m calling from the diner

the diner on the corner

I ordered two coffees

one is for you

I was hoping you’d join me

'cause I ain’t go no money

and I really miss you

I should mention that too

yes I know what time it is in fact, I just checked

I even know the date

and the month

and the year

I know I haven’t been sleeping

and when I do

I just dream of you

dear

I miss watching you

drool on your pillow

I miss watching you

pull on your clothes

I miss listening

to you in the bathroom

flushing the toilet

blowing your nose

I’m calling from the diner

the diner on the corner

I ordered two coffees

one is for you

the cups are so close

the steam is rising

in one stream

how are you

I think you’re the least fucked up person I’ve ever met

and that may be as close to the real thing

as I’m ever gonna get

but my quarter’s gonna run out now

or so I’m told

I guess I’d better go sit down

and wait for you

til my coffee gets cold