Schwa Lyrics

Glimpse

Lyricist: Ed McGee
Vocalist: Ed McGee

Look at all these nostrils!
I nearly drool with laughter
because there must be half as many
people as nostrils,
but it's all a spiraling joke
of colors in this dark room:
teeth and pink lips,
so many smiles above
blue cups full of beer.
It takes me a while
to convince myself 
that the floor is not tilting,
port then starboard,
and before I can reckon
the people to nostrils ratio,
I'm considering at possibly light speed
a mechanical house foundation,
but then why would anyone want
a tiltable house?
Forget that, why turn on the tilter
during a party?
or maybe that's its purpose:
to freak out the guests.

Here now -- nostrils approach,
somewhat familiar ones at that,
they must've spun out of the spiral.
In the moment before she speaks,
her nostrils let out
parallel trails of cigarette smoke
and when she smiles and says,
"How's it goin' brother?"
(her nostrils twitching on "brother"),
I can only laugh and laugh,
wrapping a hand over my mouth
to hold in my teeth,
which by now I can nearly see
in front of me,
until she shocks me quiet with,
"That ain't cigarette smoke,"
like she'd read my mind.

I gape,
but then reality takes me 
firmly, unexpectedly,
and I offer a sighing
"Meredith"
as I now understand 
the invitation in her comment
and grapple with speech:
"You were just, you have pot,
and I thought, because of the smoke
from your nose --"
but she's laughing and thank God 
someone grabbed her attention because 
the house tilter's on high again.

I hear a fragment,
"shrooms" and my name 
in the same sentence,
and I'm seeing music
move in waves through people,
ripple patterns like
wind in grass.
I shiver happily 
and wonder how long I stared 
at Meredith in confusion
before I realized
what she'd meant
(which I've now forgotten).
It seemed twice as long
as my succeeding glimpse of sanity.
And why had I even bothered
to attempt explaining
my wonderful delusions?

Another shiver spills my beer
and I decide to go tell Meredith
my visions shouldn't be secrets,
even if she doesn't understand.