Transmission
for Doug Goldman

by Columbine

Just a spark
Just a half-seen shimmer
A flash of recognition
And the knowledge you were there
Just a message
Out of what I thought was nowhere
Cut off as abruptly
By smoke and interference
All our scientists
Would drool just knowing
What I stumbled across
Just listening to the sky
But just as soon
As I learned the language
There was static, more than static
Then a sudden cold goodbye

And it happened far away
I can't even turn away
Everybody makes mistakes sometimes
I can't regret
That we almost met
Everybody makes mistakes sometimes

All is information
Friendship's just a word
We've done away with space
And I'm hoping soon with time
Ones and zeros
Are as good a medium
As goatskin stretched across a log
My fellow lotus-eater
Deaf to the racket
Tuned to real and could-have-been
And could-still-even-be
It doesn't matter
Flames don't give you a warning
No one gets a warning
It's to be or not to be

And it happens every day
Doesn't matter what I say
Everybody makes mistakes sometimes
And it happens in my head
Then I wake up, I'm not dead
Everybody makes mistakes sometimes
My backbone is here
Screw regrets and screw the fear
Everybody makes mistakes sometimes
And it happens without you
There's only so much one can do
Everybody makes mistakes sometimes

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