Sunshine isn't free

Crossroads of youth and wisdom, here in an ordinary kitchen

A girl (or woman) stands confused by the fridge

The change was expected, but she was still caught unaware

 

The cold concrete floor soaks through her fuzzy striped socks

Is the choice hers to make?

Or does time keep moving, keep pulling, keep luring her awake?

 

No, let’s sleep in the sunlight, let’s bathe on the beach

We’ll keep the sun on a string, paralyzed in the air

 

She always loved sunsets, but now the day is all blue

A deep dusk, the lights flicker on, a kindness from the night

Reminding those left outside to get home for the night

 

Why stand in the dark, the light switch is right there

But she hates the florescent, she wants the the sun

In flipping the switch, she’s admitting life’s not fair

 

Some people live in the night

They never got the chance to sun burn

Or sunbathe or drift in the waves

 

From birth, they stumble

Needing matches, then a wick

‘Til their lucky chance dies out again

 

But if you’ve always slept in the sunlight

You won’t understand the pain

Of scrambling, of bargaining

To turn the light on once again

 

Night comes for most of us, not all of us

Some in January or February

Or in our twenty eighth year

 

Violent wisdom, draped in violet gown

Reveals what the world is like when the sun goes down

If you don’t have a lamp or a candle or even a match

You’re stuck in one place grasping for the latch

 

Let me in, let me into the light

When I was a child, I took it for granted

The sun above and the rays all over me

 

But now I know there’s a price I must pay

Or by others before me who have led the way