Canary Yellow from Pretenderness by Your Ex's Pets

staying in bed late
collecting confidence
i cannot make headway
and i shouldn’t need no encouragement
got a seasonal illness
in my knees and my elbows
it makes me feel pointless
like painting a coal mine canary yellow

there’s hourly wage cutbacks
at the machine that grinds people down to
post-its and thumbtacks
white noise and city sounds bouncing off of
thick glass and sidewalks
gently slapping jump rope
and circling small talk
competing with taxis, canary yellow

there’s too much to unpack
bubbling through the mud or
shot from a smokestack
hoping to seep its way into lungs
i crack a quick smirk
toward my strange bedfellows
as we lay the groundwork
painting the coal mine canary yellow

• Rock
• alt-country
• harmonies
• indie rock
• moody
• tender
• Athens