Nine years ago, driving down to San Diego to watch “Dogeaters” at the Mandeville Center on the UCSD campus.

If you could read my mind, love,
what a tale my thoughts could tell,
just like an old time movie
‘bout a ghost from a wishin’ well.
In a castle dark or a fortress strong
with chains upon my feet.
You know that ghost is me.
And I will never be set free
as long as I’m a ghost that you can’t see.

If I could read your mind, love,
what a tale your thoughts could tell,
just like a paperback novel,
the kind that drugstores sell.
When you reach the part where the heartaches come, the hero would be me.
But heroes often fail.
And you won’t read that book again
because the ending is just too hard to take.

I’d walk away like a movie star
who gets burned in a three way script.
Enter number two.
A movie queen to play the scene
of bringing all the good things out in me.
But for now, love, let’s be real.
I never knew I could act this way,
and I’ve got to say that I just don’t get it.
I don’t know where we went wrong
but the feeling’s gone,
and I just can’t get it back.

If you could read my mind, love,
what a tale my thoughts could tell,
just like an old time movie
‘bout a ghost from a wishin’ well.
In a castle dark or a fortress strong
with chains upon my feet,
but stories always end.
And if you read between the lines
you’ll know that I’m just tryin’ to understand
the feelin’ that we lack.
I never knew I could feel this way,
and I’ve got to say that I just don’t get it.
I don’t know where we went wrong
but the feelin’s gone,
and I just can’t get it back.

Apparently I’m not going escape this pit of despair just quite yet.