You can call it a love song You can call it a d**h rattle You can call it a battle cry You can call it the national anthem for your side When I'm on my d**hbed I'd rather have a memory of this conversation Than just a blank space in which I'd fill with fantasy I write to turn strangers into family I write to cultivate space, write to plant these seeds I write to shine a little light on ‘em See the cipher spit drip right on ‘em I write often, to see the seed change into a tree on my grave; where others only see a stage I see billions of people, and billions of years All leading up to us standing right here And if that ain't a miracle, I am not a sinner I'm a man tryin' to dam a river So we're not all just water under the bridge Give me a lake where my sisters and brothers can swim Because I don't have a lot of close friends I try to make up for that with a lot of far ones As if the light from a million little stars was As warm as the sun on summer Sundays I leave a CD on the counter for another someday Like… let me explain: When I was 17, I was considered deceased for five minutes And I remember everything, so I don't know my limits How can you? When you see the stars like candles Unmoved by the past tense force of your last breath your Last steps never echo too far No heaven, no hell, just an ocean of stars And when it's all finished, you fall in it The ripple's so small and it fits like a halo Hey yo, I woke up in the ambulance The paramedics askin' what you laughin' at? And after that I inhaled so hard That a little Midwest impaled my heart Now maybe that explains my art: Half Twin Cities, half made of stars I've been to the other side, really Y'all want to see what I brought back with me?