EASEMENT

[Verse 1]
The screen door hinge screamed August '08, leaving a rust-colored line.
Just another Tuesday burnin' through the Oak Park turpentine.
You were on the porch steps, workin' grease into the chain of my ten-speed bike,
said it was skippin' gears, makin' a sound you didn't like.
We argued over somethin' stupid, maybe the last of the cereal,
air thick with the smell of asphalt, somethin' ethereal
'bout the way the dust motes danced in the light slantin' through the blinds.
Just a day. A number. A box to check off in our minds.

[Chorus]
We didn't know it was the final plan.
The sun was just the sun.
The air was just the air we had.
And the street was just the street.

[Verse 2]
You said, "Bet I beat you to the corner," laughin' at my scuffed-up Nikes.
The future was a loose-leaf page of unapproved design strikes.
We had a whole unseen blueprint drafted for the rest of our whole lives,
foundation set for cookouts, bullshit, kids, and future wives.
I remember you checkin' the tire pressure on the Cutlass with your thumb,
that permanent half-moon of oil underneath your nail, I felt my own go numb.
Talkin' 'bout the game on Friday, who you'd put the money on.
Just a conversation disappearing into the lawn.

[Bridge]
And now I got this property line runnin' right through my chest.
A permanent right-of-way, puttin' every memory to the test.

[Chorus]
We didn't know it was the final plan.
The sun was just the sun.
The air was just the air we had.
And the street was just the street.

[Outro]
Now the ghost in this room asks for an easement.
And I sign the deed every night.