stage set   curtain   song queued   expectation   spotlight   act one   applause/bow   repeat steps      can't you see right now my hands are bleeding   blisters broken dripping from the ceiling   I don't want to be here now   I've fallen apart and I can't pick up the pieces   I cry in the dark and cup my ears to seashells   to hear the solitude it brings      so many faces - so many voices - so many reasons   to give this up and this goes on and on      can't you hear right now my ears are ringing?   my head held in my hands to stop the spinning   it stops only to start again   my home has long since been replaced   with a world behind this window pane      have I finally gone too far to come home?   this world might wait for me tonight, but she won't   now only time will tell if these wax-wings will melt   only moments to spare      we fall asleep with the color of the sunrise   we count the years on circles under our eyes   we dream in shades of blue and gray   we speak in tongues of metaphors and stories   we bleed the ink of subtle allegory   we are the needle in the hay