988 Lyrics

I dialed 988

Suicide hotline

Just a joke really

What could anybody say in the face

Of what I made of this world

Richard was a good guy

Volunteer for 988 on Mondays

In a wheelchair for years

Told me all about his world

Grateful for the things to come

Worth it all, worth it all

I was just going to hang up

Block any return calls,

Leave the location of my phone

Almost did

But hey, what's the harm

In truth

So I began to explain

The way of my world

The situational morality

The inevitable philosophy

The way things look

When God opens his eyes

And Richard with his headset

Laptop with scripted salvation

Richard listens as my world

Unfurls

Tries to back away

Wrapping up the conversation

According to the notes online

Backing out of a hopeless situation

Hey Hey, Richard I say

C'mon now. I haven't even got

To the good part

Ten minutes later Richard weeping into the phone

His co-workers hung up on me

Fuck I found myself chuckling at the whole thing

I feel good, ready to face another day