Once

Once is the first single from my podcast episode, The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters. 

Once

Once I was in love with my future. 
It was lit like a Japanese city. 
My life was charmed.
I got into fistfights
I turned on a dime.
I was fiercely optimistic.
I was the luckiest man alive. 

Once, I was shot out of a cannon,
I landed on the moon,
I killed seven with one blow,
I balanced ten torpedoes 
on the tip of my tongue like a sailor.

The future was up for grabs,
The past was simply a benign ghost 
living in the back of my head.

Then one night, 
the gods had had enough
and manufactured a monster
to distress my every dream.
Soon the days muddled into months.
Was I half asleep or half-awake?
No sound was distinct.
All the colors on the wheel
ran together into a bleak, unlovely gray.

Now, a complete disappointment,
I let down my guard,
and gave up the ghost.
I was surprised to find myself 
eager for doom.

The Future reared up for a final foray, 
but changed its mind. 
It came inside, and stayed inside.

Once I felt certain the Future 
would make the Past pay. 
It would shove its face into the mud 
until it whimpered, and slinked off 
into the dark woods forever.

Once, I saw the moon disappear 
like it had been deleted. 

Once, as per your request,
I dreamed a little dream of you.

Words and music © 2021 by Scott Taylor   
More at Scott Taylor's cover is blown