We All Cope in Different Ways - Shelley Short, Darren Hanlon

I had a ground breaking idea

But I forgot to write it down

Now every thought starts to distort

And they chase themselves around

Every concept loses meaning

When you look at it too long

Today’s amazing line becomes

Tomorrow’s awful song

Well Time’s longer than rope

I once heard somebody say

There’s nowhere to tie the end onto

So I just float away

It’s only been three weeks, since I’ve seen the cheeks

Of friends I’s goodbye kissing

Now I feed the magpie mince

And hope he’ll stay a whil to listen

We all cope in diffrent ways

So don’t be too hard on yourself

A hopeless string of empty days

Like standing on an arctic shelf

Staring deep into the void

Of your undiscovered mind

Searching desperately to find

Some comfort from the malaise

We all cope in different ways

We now watch the kind of films

Our former selves would not believe

Old DVDs of Keanu Reeves

As we sneeze into our sleeves

I make calls to my great auntie

And file tax 10 quarters old

But each receipt reminds me

Of when we were free and bold

I got lost in Jane Austin

Her posthumous work Persuasion

She’s the early 1800s

Poster girl for isolation

All her characters claim love

If from some wealthy socialite

But Jane retained her single life

And stayed at home to write

Some say that it’s a blessing

A chance to find collective zen

But I keep refreshing, to find more death and

My heart it breaks again

But statistics are just fishsticks

Without their human faces

How can I empathise with all the lives

That each number embraces

The behaviours of my own neighbours

Are all making me suspicious

They prance around all over town

Like mobile Petrie dishes

So I lock all the doors and windows

And pull the blinds to make a blinker

I’ve become my own worst nightmare

Anti-social over-thinker

We all cope in different ways

So don’t be too hard on yourself

A hopeless string of empty days

Like standing on an arctic shelf

Staring deep into the void

Of your undiscovered mind

If you’re lucky you might find

Some comfort from the malaise

We all cope in different ways