Picking at Scabs

When I heard your voice on the phone,
I was more than a little surprised.
It'd been a long night of collapsing-building dreams,
And I'd barely opened my eyes.

The questions you were asking me
Reminded me of when we were together:
How much are you drinking, and how's your family?
At least you didn't ask about the weather.

My mom, she's been doing well.
Dad's been getting dizzy.
I'm not drinking as much, but not not at all.
Such tail-chasing has been keeping me busy.

That and picking at scabs to see fresh blood.
It's all right, we can laugh about this stuff.

We laughed about the first time we were in bed
And I was such a mess.
You knew I wasn't that drunk,
So you asked me if I was religious.

It was a decent question, I guess,
Though it made me even more nervous.
Like you'd invited the Almighty himself
To testify to our congress.

In the morning you only had that dress
That you'd worn for the games out on the lawn.
I'd say we were both ready to run
Once you put your blue tennis shoes on.

Picking at scabs to see fresh blood.
It's all right, you can laugh, but I'll call your bluff.

That time we drove out to the country
‘Cause my folks were draining the pond,
And we thought we'd catch a couple catfish
Before they faced their Armageddon.

You held the pole and I rowed the boat,
And when I brought us back to the bank,
My dad showed us how his grandma cleaned ‘em
By nailing their heads to a plank.

We were gonna be living high:
Fresh catfish and cottage fries.
But we both knew from the first bite,
Those fish's Kool-Aid was laced with cyanide.

So putrid it was hard to describe.
There wasn't enough beer in the house
To make it seem like a good time,
Or to wash the bitter taste out of our mouths.

So we went around the corner to the grocery store
To pick up some more beer and fried chicken.
While I was over grabbing a six-pack,
You were at the counter being propositioned.

In overalls and a motorized cart,
He didn't look like he could do too much harm,
But whatever he said about sexing chickens
Made you never want to go back to the farm.

Picking at scabs to see fresh blood.
It's all right, you can laugh. That's about enough.

When I heard your voice on the phone,
I was more than a little surprised.
It'd been a long night of disastrous dreams,
And I'd barely opened my eyes.

I probably wouldn't've picked up the phone,
But I was waiting on a call from a plumber.
You still had our old area code.
I didn't recognize your number.