Struck a Nerve

There's an old man on a city bus holding a candy cane And it isn't even Christmas He sees a note in the obituary That his last friend has died There's an infant clinging to his overweight mother In the cold as they go to shop for cigarettes And she spends her last dollar On a bottle of vodka for tonight And I guess it struck a nerve, like I had to squint my eyes You can never get out of the line of sight Like a barren winter day or a patch of unburned green Like a tragic real dream I guess it struck a nerve Everyday I wander in negative disposition As I'm bombarded by superlatives Realizing very well that I am not alone Introverted, I look to tomorrow for salvation But I'm thinking altruistically And a wave of overwhelming doubt turns me to stone And I guess it struck a nerve, sent a murmur through my heart We just haven't got time to crack the maze Like a magic speeding clock or a cancer in our cells A collision in the dark I guess it struck a nerve I try to close my eyes But I cannot ignore the stimuli If there's a purpose for us all, it remains a secret to me Don't ask me to justify my life And I guess it struck a nerve, like I had to squint my eyes You can never get out of the line of sight Like a magic speeding clock or a cancer in our cells A collision in the dark I guess it struck a nerve