*

I am so tired of waiting.
Aren't you,
For the world to become good
And beautiful and kind?
Let us take a knife
And cut the world in two—
And see what worms are eating
At the rind.

—Tired.
Langston Hughes.

*

I gave it my all, he gave me nothin' at all
Then wondered why I left
Now he sits on his throne in his palace of bones
Praying to his greed
He's got my past frozen behind glass
But I've got me.

—it's time to go.
Taylor Swift.

*

Sometimes, giving up is the strong thing

Sometimes, to run is the brave thing

Sometimes, walking out is the one thing

That will find you the right thing.

—it's time to go.

Taylor Swift.

*

That old familiar body ache
The snaps from the same little breaks in your soul
You know when it's time to go.

—it's time to go.
Taylor Swift.

*

If our love died young, I can't bear witness.

—right where you left me.
Taylor Swift.

*

Did you ever hear about the girl who got frozen?
Time went on for everybody else, she won't know it
She's still twenty-three inside her fantasy
How it was supposed to be
Did you hear about the girl who lives in delusion?
Breakups happen every day, you don't have to lose it
She's still twenty-three inside her fantasy.

—right where you left me.
Taylor Swift.

*

Friends break up, friends get married
Strangers get born, strangers get buried
Trends change, rumors fly through new skies
But I'm right where you left me
Matches burn after the other
Pages turn and stick to each other
Wages earned and lessons learned
But I'm right where you left me.

—right where you left me.
Taylor Swift.

*

Gray November
I've been down since July
Motion capture
Put me in a bad light
I replay my footsteps on each stepping stone
Trying to find the one where I went wrong
Writing letters
Addressed to the fire

And I was catchin' my breath
Starin' out an open window, catchin' my death
And I couldn't be sure
I had a feeling so peculiar
That this pain would be for
Evermore

Hey, December
Guess I'm feeling unmoored
Can't remember
What I used to fight for
I rewind thе tape, but all it does is pause
On thе very moment all was lost
Sending signals
To be double-crossed

And I was catchin' my breath
Barefoot in the wildest winter, catchin' my death
And I couldn't be sure
I had a feeling so peculiar
That this pain would be for
Evermore

Can't not think of all the cost
And the things that will be lost
Oh, can we just get a pause?
To be certain we'll be tall again
Whether weather be the frost
Or the violence of the dog days
I'm on waves, out being tossed
Is there a line that I could just go cross?
And when I was shipwrecked (Can't think of all the cost now)
I thought of you (All the things that will be lost now)
In the cracks of light (Can we just get a pause?)
I dreamed of you (To be certain we'll be tall again)
(If you think of all the cost)
It was real enough (Whether weather be the frost)
To get me through (Or the violence of the dog days)
(Or the violence of the dog days)
(Out on waves, being tossed)
(I'm on waves, out being tossed)
But I swear (Is there a line that we can just go cross?)
You were there

And I was catchin' my breath
Floors of a cabin creakin' under my step
And I couldn't be sure
I had a feeling so peculiar
This pain wouldn't be for
Evermore

—evermore.

Taylor Swift.

*

And if I didn't know better
I'd think you were singing to me now
If I didn't know better
I'd think you were still around
I know better
But I still feel you all around
I know better
But you're still around.

—marjorie.
Taylor Swift.

*

I should've asked you questions
I should've asked you how to be
Asked you to write it down for me
Should've kept every grocery store receipt
'Cause every scrap of you would be taken from me
Watched as you signed your name Marjorie
All your closets of backlogged dreams
And how you left them all to me.

—marjorie.
Taylor Swift.

*

Never be so politе
You forget your power
Nevеr wield such power
You forget to be polite.

—marjorie.
Taylor Swift.

*

Never be so kind
You forget to be clever
Never be so clever
You forget to be kind.

—marjorie.
Taylor Swift.

*

Past me
I wanna tell you not to get lost in these petty things
Your nemeses
Will defeat themselves before you get the chance to swing
And he's passing by
Rare as the glimmer of a comet in the sky
And he feels like home
If the shoe fits, walk in it everywhere you go.

—long story short.
Taylor Swift.

*

No more keepin' score
Now I just keep you warm
No more tug of war
Now I just know there's more
No more keepin' score
Now I just keep you warm
And my waves meet your shore

Ever and evermore.

—long story short.
Taylor Swift.

*

When I dropped my sword
I threw it in the bushes and knocked on your door
And we live in peace
But if someone comes at us, this time, I'm ready.

—long story short.
Taylor Swift.

*

Fatefully
I tried to pick my battles 'til the battle picked me
Misery
Like the war of words I shouted in my sleep
And you passed right by
I was in the alley, surrounded on all sides
The knife cuts both ways
If the shoe fits, walk in it 'til your high heels break.

—long story short.
Taylor Swift.

*

Now you hang from my lips
Like the Gardens of Babylon
With your boots beneath my bed
Forever is the sweetest con.

—cowboy like me.
Taylor Swift.

*

I'd live and die for moments that we stole
On begged and borrowed time.

—ivy.
Taylor Swift.

*

Stop you putting roots in my dreamland

My house of stone, your ivy grows

And now I'm covered in you.

—ivy.

Taylor Swift.

*

And when I got into the accident
The sight that flashed before me was your face
But when I walked up to the podium
I think that I forgot to say your name.

—coney island.
Taylor Swift.

*

Did I paint your bluest skies the darkest gray?

—coney island.
Taylor Swift.

*

The question pounds my head
"What's a lifetime of achievement?"

If I pushed you to the edge
But you were too polite to leave me
And do you miss the rogue
Who coaxed you into paradise and left you there?
Will you forgive my soul
When you're too wise to trust me and too old to care?

—coney island.
Taylor Swift.

*

Break my soul in two

Looking for you but you're right here

If I can't relate to you anymore

Then who am I related to?

And if this is the long haul

How'd we get here so soon?

Did I close my fist around something delicate?

Did I shatter you?

—coney island.
Taylor Swift.

*

Honey, when I'm above the trees
I see this for what it is
But now I'm right down in it, all the years I've given
Is just shit we're dividin' up
Showed you all of my hiding spots
I was dancing when the music stopped
And in the disbelief, I can't face reinvention
I haven't met the new me yet

There'll be happiness after you
But there was happiness because of you
Both of these things can be true
There is happiness

Past the blood and bruise
Past the curses and cries
Beyond the terror in the nightfall
Haunted by the look in my eyes
That would've loved you for a lifetime
Leave it all behind
And there is happiness

Tell me, when did your winning smile
Begin to look like a smirk?
When did all our lessons start to look like weapons
Pointed at my deepest hurt?
I hope she'll be a beautiful fool
Who takes my spot next to you
No, I didn't mean that
Sorry, I can't see facts through all of my fury
You haven't met the new me yet

There'll be happiness after me
But there was happiness because of me
Both of these things, I believe
There is happiness

In our history, across our great divide
There is a glorious sunrise
Dappled with the flickers of light
From the dress I wore at midnight, leave it all behind
And there is happiness

I can't make it go away by making you a villain
I guess it's the price I paid for seven years in Heaven
And I pulled your body into mine
Every goddamn night, now I get fake niceties
No one teaches you what to do
When a good man hurts you
And you know you hurt him, too

Honey, when I'm above the trees
I see it for what it is
But now my eyes leak acid rain on the pillow

where you used to lay your head
After giving you the best I had
Tell me what to give after that
All you want from me now is the green light of forgiveness
You haven't met the new me yet
And I think she'll give you that

There'll be happiness after you
But there was happiness because of you, too
Both of these things can be true
There is happiness

In our history, across our great divide
There is a glorious sunrise
Dappled with the flickers of light
From the dress I wore at midnight, leave it all behind
Oh, leave it all behind
Leave it all behind
And there is happiness.

—happiness.
Taylor Swift.

*

I sit and watch you reading with your head low

I wake and watch you breathing with your eyes closed

I sit and watch you, I notice everything you do or don't do

You're so much older and wiser and I

I wait by the door like I'm just a kid

Use my best colors for your portrait

Lay the table with the fancy shit

And watch you tolerate it

If it's all in my head tell me now

Tell me I've got it wrong somehow

I know my love should be celebrated

But you tolerate it

I greet you with a battle hero's welcome

I take your indiscretions all in good fun

I sit and listen, I polish plates until they gleam and glisten

You're so much older and wiser and I

I wait by the door like I'm just a kid

Use my best colors for your portrait

Lay the table with the fancy shit

And watch you tolerate it

If it's all in my head tell me now

Tell me I've got it wrong somehow

I know my love should be celebrated

But you tolerate it

While you were out building other worlds, where was I?

Where's that man who'd throw blankets over my barbed wire?

I made you my temple, my mural, my sky

Now I'm begging for footnotes in the story of your life

Drawing hearts in the byline

Always taking up too much space or time

You assume I'm fine

But what would you do if I

Break free and leave us in ruins

Took this dagger in me and removed it

Gain the weight of you then lose it

Believe me, I could do it

If it's all in my head tell me now

Tell me I've got it wrong somehow

I know my love should be celebrated

But you tolerate it

I sit and watch you.

—tolerate it.

Taylor Swift.

*

There's an ache in you
Put there by the ache in me.

—'tis the damn season.
Taylor Swift.

*

And the heart I know I'm breaking is my own
To leave the warmest bed I've ever known.

—'tis the damn season.
Taylor Swift.

*

Eyes like sinking ships
On waters so inviting
I almost jump in.

—gold rush.
Taylor Swift.

*

"She would've made such a lovely bride
What a shame she's fucked in the head," they said

—champagne problems.
Taylor Swift.

*

You booked the night train for a reason
So you could sit there in this hurt
Bustling crowds or silent sleepers
You're not sure which is worse.

—champagne problems.
Taylor Swift.