Poltergeist

Check out my new song on my MySpace page!

Although the title alludes to the supernatural, this song is actually about my struggle with anxiety. We've all been there, right?

Poltergeist
By Kate Pillsbury

It’s that all-too-familiar sinking feeling
Why, hello old friend…is that my strength you’re drinking?
How did you sneak in?
I don’t remember saying “let yourself in”
But it seems you’ve made yourself at home under my skin
Your practical jokes make a mess out of my life
Everybody’s got their demons
But it looks like I’ve got a poltergeist

You’re twisted,
And frankly, quite sadistic
It’s my fear that feeds your strength
And you never let me forget it
You outstayed your welcome
The moment you came into my home
But at least you know where the door is,
So feel free to go
At any time
I hate the tradition between you and I
You show up when I can least predict it
Because that’s when you can best elicit…

That strangely familiar sinking feeling
Why hello old friend, didn’t expect to see you again
How did you break in?
I dead bolted all the doors,
Sealed the cracks in all the floors,
Imagine my surprise to see you here you are once more, poltergeist

Cold hands,
Restless legs,
My lifespan has been knocked down a few pegs
And really, that’s the least of my worries
You see, my anxiety is bubbling up inside my chest
I’m useless against

That all-too-familiar sinking feeling
Why hello old foe, I was hoping not to see you again
How do you always find a way back in?
You always find a way back into my life
My demon, my poltergeist

While We Covet the Sky

"I see young men, my townsmen, whose misfortune it is to have inherited farms, houses, barns, cattle, and farming tools; for these are more easily acquired than got rid of. Better if they had been born in the open pasture and suckled by a wolf, that they might have seen with clearer eyes what field they were called to labor in. Who made them serfs of the soil? Why should they eat their sixty acres, when man is condemned to eat only his peck of dirt? Why should they begin digging their graves as soon as they are born?"

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."

Thoreau knew a thing or two. I've been thinking about his words a lot lately, weighing them within the context of my own life. This is what I've come up with:

While We Covet the Sky
Kate Pillsbury

I’d hollow out my bones
If it meant finally feeling at home
Down here we’re always choking on the dust
Of forgotten things and idle dreams and such
Lowly, dirt-smudged, earthly truths

Chorus:
The only men I’ve ever seen kiss the ground
Are those who’ve already learned to fly
The rest of us just wait our turn,
Turning clouds to pictures to pass the time
While we covet the sky

The grass itself could not be green
Were it not for the sky
Both for the rain it lends and for the envy it ignites
Keep in mind that everyday the ground is cursing gravity
Just like you and I

The only men I’ve ever seen kiss the ground
Are those who’ve already learned to fly
The rest of us just wait our turn,
Turning clouds to pictures to pass the time
While we covet the sky

I turned over the land
Hoping to plant a few seeds and a sense of purpose
But as always, that was lost on me
When my shovel hit bone, I took it as my cue to flee
I won’t let the land have all of me

The only men I’ve ever seen kiss the ground
Are those who’ve already learned to fly
The rest of us just wait our turn,
Turning clouds to pictures to pass the time
While we covet the sky