we did some things

there are so many things we forget in this life
almost all of it really
how did i get here
who have i been
who will i be
who's waiting just around the bend
i lived another life in el paso
slow days
boring days
miserable days
the best days of my life
the worst days too
high hot sunny days dreaming of what my life might become someday
we drove up through the mountains at night
looked down at the lights running through the valley
schemed and plotted
planned what we would do
who we would become
what guitars we would strum
what songs we would write
it was all so naive
it was all so gallant
we'd drive and drive and drive
hours of talk
sometimes until the dawn
there was nothing else to do but plan
and dream
it was fitting that when we left it was night time
we left the city behind us
lights vanishing slow in the distance
a beat up seventies mercedes benz as our chariot
pulling all our worldy possessions
the special guitar i'd snatched for faris tucked under a packing blanket
stashed out of mom's sight
what else salim?
tell us
i can't remember anymore
lot's of bad cheap furniture
my record collection was too precious to take
mom was driving first shift
on into the desert night
i remember headphone listening
in the backseat
under the milky way while we rolled through midland
the u-haul trailer swaying and rattling
a horrible racket
why did we drive through the night
mom was afraid of a mid-afternoon blow-out under the merciless texas sun
so instead we got an early morning blowout
somewhere east of big spring
faris hitched a ride with a trucker
he was to go for help
what on earth were we thinking?
i was worried for him the trucker looked like an axe murderer
about a mile up we see the truck slowly pull to the side of the road
faris gets out first
had he been thrown out
was he escaping
what was going on
the trucker gets out right after but crosses the highway to get to the middle
the grassy median section
head down
searching for something
faris runs back toward us
he was pretty far away
we were shouting
it was really hot
we were sweating good and confused
what happened with faris and his new friend
what happened
he didn't wanna say until later
he told us after we finally fixed the flat
right after he'd climbed on board the big rig
he burned his hand on the smokestack he didn't know they got hot
he'd never rode in a 16 wheeler before
go figure
anyway the trucker laughed so hard
he blew his false teeth right out the window
they had been specially made for him by his brother in law
in mississippi
had to find them
they were irreplaceable
i don't think he ever did find them
was still combing the highway as we rolled off
an hour later with our new tire
we made it to denton late that afternoon
a mere 18 hours after we'd left e.p.
it had been a brutal trip we had all been up for almost 24 hours
so tired i was beginning to hallucinate
i'd heard the church were playing the starplex in dallas that night
the radio had said it as we were coming in to the metroplex
lots of plexes
very confusing
i was so excited i nearly peed myself
i was going come hell
or in high waters
going to see the church
surely faris would go too but he wasn't interested
too tired
my only sister miriam
she was up for it
the others passed out already as we headed off on our first big city adventure
we didn't know where dallas was
we didn't know what the starplex was
it didn't matter
i had been re-born
escaped from el paso's smothering confines
FINALLY
it was a miracle
i was so hopped up on adrenalin the rest of that night is a blur
of vague images
it didn't matter
my new life had finally begun