“Careful”

I went to grad school in downtown Chicago. The only draining part was the train ride home, which often included a combination of Pabst Blue Ribboned baseball fans and caffeinated stock traders on their cellphones. Both groups were all kinds of brash and oblivious to the rest of us riding home. My challenge:  to see these temporary neighbors with generosity. In this song, I think the speaker is getting curious about himself and the humans sitting next to him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Careful”
By Devin Bustin

Careful
You’re about to get an earful
Or even get a mouthful
And wouldn’t that suck?

You’re not
The only story at the bus stop
The only one who needs a day off
But you’re the loud one on the phone

I know
I’m the one who’s got the headphones
With the monologues of my own
But it’s the one that I choose

I’m not
Trying to keep you within earshot
So I’m applying earlock
To hear myself think

Take me
Where I can think clearly
And maybe
I won’t mind my mind

This city
Where everybody sits near me
And I’m learning how to sit beside myself

Tell me
Who’s the tallest in your family
Who’s carrying a baby
Who’s carrying grief

Me, I was an ocean in my past life
I don’t know why I look away
When people wave