sentence starters from the mountain goats - through this fire across from peter balkan
"rise with the tides in the dawn."
"be your own boss for the summer."
"seize the moment before it's gone."
"nothing's ever promised to anyone; everything you get is a gift."
"everybody else is dead."
"we are learning to float."
"let yourself go in the current."
"breathe in the sweet air of the here and now."
"the first thing you learn is how strong you can be, if you have to."
"let me get some sleep before i speak."
"the first thing you learn will be the last thing to go."
"nobody thought to carry a compass."
"it's not the 19th century anymore."
"the first thing you learn is there's always a clock ticking somewhere."
"all who hunger will be fed."
"no one here is going to die alone."
"let them come, let them gather here."
"we will all go when we go."
"one day the stars will all go out."
"will you lie still while i reapply your bandage?"
"there's untold riches in the depths."
"soon we'll all be released."
"for a man on combat rations, you sure do have a lot to say."
"i don't want the water to break you."
"you've always got a little further to drop when you've risen that much higher."
"one of us will have to be strong."
"just about a week in the future, these are going to seem like the good days."
"at most, we'll only have eachother."
"my faith ran out with the flames one night."
"it wasn't ever going to go away."
"i calculated one week to go, maybe less."
"you were slipping in and out of consciousness."
"what are seven days worth?"
"you were reborn."
"very soon we'll both be gone."
"it's getting harder to hear you."
"i'll run all night but my legs won't tire."
"the ocean is faithful and the devil's a liar."
"some things are too fragile to name."
"some things are made for the spotlight; some live at the edge of the frame."
"you were never gonna make it; i felt like you knew."
"at least you'll have someone. for some of us, that won't be true."
"the weak ones get lucky. the strong ones stick around to see the end."
"just doing what we promised you we'd do."
"what would our old friend say?"
"soon it'll just be you."
"all aboard that's going aboard."
"it's time for you to go."
"you never lost your glow."
"you lost a lot of sleep before the fever broke."
"just me left now, and you about to learn what lies beyond."
"adrift for half your life; headed home today."
"luck found me out on the open sea."
"when will my moment come?"
"everything that sinks will float."
"like anything you ever come across - before you knew about it, it got lost."
"it was broken to begin with."
"no proof that we were ever here alive."
"is this not what you wanted from the sea?"
"isn't this what we suspect we'll see on the day we finally get free?"