Detention Diaries
Staring at the second hand crawling on the wall
Fluorescent buzz humming down the cinder block hall
Desks bolted down in a rigid little row
Counting down the minutes 'til they let a wild heart go
They say sit still
and learn your place
Don't color outside that tiny line
Lord, you can't cage thunder
in a homeroom chair
I was born for open dirt and mountain air
Every ticking clock
is a prison cell door
And I swear I can't take this chalk dust anymore
(no, I can't)
Old yellow bus coughing diesel in the dawn
Dragging heavy boots across that frozen yellow lawn
Books in my backpack feeling like a stack of lead
Dreaming of the tractor and the open fields instead
They teach you how
to follow every rule
While your spirit is starving on the vine
Lord, you can't cage thunder
in a homeroom chair
I was born for open dirt and mountain air
Every ticking clock
is a prison cell door
And I swear I can't take this chalk dust anymore
(leave it all behind)
Just waitin' on the bell to ring...
Set me free into the timberline...