Pittsfield

I'm not afraid of you now, I know

So I climbed down from the bunk beds this low

I can talk back to you now, I know

From a few things I learned from this TV show

You can work late till midnight, we don't care

We can fix our own meals, we can wash our own hair

I go to school before sunrise, in the cold

And I pulled the alarm and I kicked up the salad bowls

Since that time we meant to say much

Unsaid things begin to change

After school we shoveled through the snow

Drive upstate in silence in the cold

You can remind me of it that I was lazy and tired

You can work all your life as I'm not afraid of you anymore

If I loved you a long time, I don't know

If I can't recall the last time you told me so

Here in this house in Pittsfield

The ghost of our grandmother works at the sewing machine post

Hiding the bills in the kitchen on the floor

And my sister lost her best friend in the Persian Gulf War

There was a flood in the bathroom last May

And you kicked at the pipes when it rattled, oh the river it made

Stand there, tell me that I'm of no use

Things unspoken break us if we share

There's still time to wash the kitchen floor

On your knees, at the sink once more

You can remind me that I was tired

You can work late and give yourself up

Now that I'm older, wiser, and working less

I don't regret having left the place a mess

You can remind me that I was lazy and tired

You can recall your life as I'm not afraid of you anymore

Anymore