Parables rich with the riddles you'd wrestle with if you'd read them through But light leaks through these lines and fictions fail my designs My pen will not obey – my characters don't stay An avalanche rolled across the one road between us and town So we stayed and we played with the bones and we watched the sad solstice sun go down Stuck in the silence of acres of snow, tempting the tokens you took And you want to get back to your drinks with the boys and I want to keep writing my book 'Cause I'm where he said she said no – and she said he shouldn't go I know what they'll decide – I'll steer their words aright But if your wheels get to weavin', if you drive like you're drunk You can blame it on the ruts in the road And if the big bad guys tail ya, if the little ones honk Then just lean into your staggering load It's a perilous road I want one more chance, an allowance advance, I want absolution too So they'll stay and they'll weigh all the good times and bad and they'll talk the matter through I'll make them both make nice – I'll clear the mud and ice I'll send them home tonight – and she'll sit down and write Displacing her curses on second/third persons she'll fill three pages of mine We'll write about writers who can't seem to right the reveals outside the lines Stuck in the silence of acres of snow, struggling to structure the book And they say that by now the way out may be cleared, and I don't think I like your look And we'll bury bones beneath our layers of make-believe But my pen will not obey – my characters won't stay But if your wheels get to weavin', if you drive like you're drunk You can blame it on the ruts in the road And if the big bad guys tail ya, if the little ones honk Then just lean into your punishing load And if you're rollin' too fast, if your exit's just passed You can blame it on the ruts in the road And if you're runnin' too hot for the lamp oil you brought Then just lean into your worrisome load And if changes come slow, love, the farther you go Blame it on the ruts in the road And if your story don't follow that old plot you borrowed Just lean into your staggering load It's a perilous road