one of us forsaken

a letter from california and
she says she's stopped drinking says
she's stopped doing drugs

says the doctors have signed the
papers and she's ready to
go home to her daughter and
who am i in this story?

maybe just the bearer of bad news

maybe someone who answers the
phone at three in the morning to
hear a stranger say
i will fucking kill you

and 3000 miles i laugh

that's a pretty long goddamn trip
just to drink my blood and
what we have here is a
3-way tie for last

a houseful of ghosts in some
dying upstate town

a prisoner of the past waiting
40 more years for a knock
on the door that never comes