Picnic Table Songtext
von Alix Olson

We sat outside at the picnic table
Drinking beer and smoking cigarettes

I asked you to take out your braids
You said, "Yeah," and as you glanced up
Your hair danced up and down

I smiled
You got shy
You said, "Don′t smile"
I said, "Why?"
You said, "Just don't"
I said, "Okay, I won′t"

And I smiled

And your skin caught like wildfire
Like there was no need for the sun
You placed a finger on my cheek
You said, "That had to be done"
You carved something like a comma
And I wondered what would come


We went inside and pet your cat
You said, "I think she's lonely
I think she needed that"
I said, "Are you lonely too?"
You said, "No girl, that kind of talk won't do"
You said, "The futon′s kinda lumpy
But my bed′s pretty smooth"

And then I thought about her laughing heart
And all the tiny tears that make us grow
And I looked into your smiling eyes
And all the tiny lines that take me so
So, so much further than I intended to go
And I said, "Thanks for the bed
I think the lumps will have to do"
You said, "It's better that way"
I said, "Yeah, I think so too"

And then I thought about her laughing heart
And all the tiny tears that make it
And I tucked that heart into the cradle of my brain
′Cause I'd never want to break it


But I still picture your hair sometimes
Dancing all wild in the yard
I still wonder about that comma
Carved so curiously hard and sweet
And yeah, sometimes I finish that sentence
You left there on my cheek
′Cause you know us poets
We like our moments complete