Akai

Paper autographs of the distant past
Signed in memory at the factory

Where they pump out time in assembly lines
Frozen poses smile from cryptic paper piles

Whole lives are spent on further moving away
from the laughter and reminders

From skin much softer and from innocent minds
now much older and hearts harder

Camera your eye is always on me, I'm never what I should be
Camera I stumble and you stand there taking notes on glossy paper

Thoughts of loved ones lost on the way
have forgetten sorrow delayed

Once a martyr idealistic
Now those ideals bow to business

No need to ? just with sacrifice
But the dim glow's now a floodlight

Your every frame jumps up and cuts in my skin
Disappointment makes the wounds sting

Camera your faceless stare seems to follow everywhere
Camera I confided; you exploited all my moments

Slow and subtle changes never seem to be so dangerous
Even leaps and bounds seem harmless as you're drifting further from me

But then sentiment and hindsight seem to catch the conscience in flight
Using memories to draw him back into the worldly party

Camera I wish my darkened failure . . .
Camera you caught me in the act of growing older