PHOEBE BRIGER’S “PUNISHER” SENTENCE STARTERS
Taken from the 2020 album. feel free to change pronouns, etc.
’ someday, i’m going to live in your house up on the hill. ’
’ when your skinhead neighbor goes missing, i’ll plant a garden in the yard. ’
’ i grew up here, till it all went up in flames except for the notches in the door frame. ’
’ i don’t know when you got taller. ’
’ i knew what i wanted. ’
’ when i grow up, i’m going to look up from my phone and see my life. ’
’ it’s just like my recurring dream. ’
’ i don’t know how, but i’m taller. ’
’ it must be something in the water. ’
’ everything’s growing in our garden. ’
’ you don’t have to know that it’s haunted. ’
’ she told me my resentment’s getting smaller. ’
’ i’m not afraid of hard work. ’
’ i get everything i want. ’
’ i have everything i wanted. ’
’ i got bored at the temple. ’
’ i wanted to go, but i didn’t. ’
’ they’ve still got payphones. ’
’ you’re getting sober? ’
’ you wrote me a letter, but i don’t have to read it. ’
’ i’m going to kill you, if you don’t beat me to it. ’
’ i wanted to see the world. ’
’ i wanted to see the world. then i flew over the ocean, and i changed my mind. ’
’ i’ve been driving out to the suburbs to park at the goodwill and stare at the chemtrails. ’
’ you were off by like ten days, but you get a few points for trying. ’
’ remember getting the truck fixed, when you let me drive it? twenty-five felt like flying. ’
’ i don’t forgive you, but please don’t hold me to it. ’
’ i wanted to see the world through your eyes until it happened. ’
’ guess i lied. ’
’ i’m a liar. ’
’ i go to the store for nothing, and i walk right by the house where you lived. ’
’ i wonder if she ever thought the storybook tiles on the roof were too much. ’
’ the drugstores are open all night. that’s the only real reason i moved to the east side. ’
’ i love a good place to hide in plain sight. ’
’ what if i told you i feel like i know you? ’
’ everyone knows you’re the way to my heart. ’
’ i swear i’m not angry, that’s just my face. ’
’ either i’m careless, or i want to get caught. ’
’ i can’t open my mouth and forget how to talk. ’
’ i wouldn’t know where to start. i wouldn’t know where to stop. ’
’ i hate living by the hospital; the sirens go all night. ’
’ you’re sick of the questions i keep asking you. ’
’ i can count on you to tell me the truth. ’
’ baby, it’s halloween, and we can be anything. ’
’ we can be anything. ’
’ i’m always surprised by what i do for love. some things, i never expect. ’
’ there’s a last time for everything. ’
’ whatever you want. ’
’ i’ll be whatever you want. ’
’ be whatever you want. ’
’ i’ve been running around in circles, pretending to be myself. ’
’ why would somebody do this on purpose when they could do something else? ’
’ i wish i wrote it, but i didn’t, so i learned the words. ’
’ i hum along until the feeling’s god forever. ’
’ i took a tour to see the stars, but they weren’t out tonight. ’
’ i want to believe. instead, i look at the sky and i feel nothing. ’
’ you know, i hate to be alone. ’
’ i want to be wrong. ’
’ you were screaming at the evangelicals, and they were screaming right back from what i remember. ’
’ i think when you’re gone, it’s forever. ’
’ you know, i’d stand on the corner, embarrassed, with a picket sign, if it meant i would see you when i die. ’
’ sometimes when i can’t sleep, it’s just a matter of time before i’m hearing things. ’
’ i want to believe that if i go outside i’ll see a tractor beam coming to take me to where i’m from. ’
’ i want to go home. ’
’ you asked to walk me home, but i had to carry you. ’
’ you pushed me in! ’
’ my feet can’t touch the bottom of you. ’
’ you couldn’t have stuck your tongue down the throat of someone who loves you more. ’
’ i will wait for the next time you want me like a dog with a bird at your door. ’
’ we fought about john lennon until i cried, and then went to bed upset. ’
’ i’ve never seen you smiling so big. ’
’ there’s something i’m supposed to say, but i can’t for the life of me remember what it is. ’
’ if i could give you the moon, i would give you the moon. ’
’ you are sick, and you’re married, and you might be dying, but you’re holding me like water in your hands. ’
’ you’re holding me like water in your hands. ’
’ it’s an emotional affair. ’
’ run the tap til it’s clear. ’
’ you drift off on the floor, and i'l drag you to the shore. ’
’ you’re sweating through the sheets… you’re going to drown in your sleep. ’
’ i’m too tired to have a pissing contest. ’
’ all the bad dreams that you hide, show me yours and i’ll show you mine. ’
’ call me when you land. ’
’ i’ll drive around again. ’
’ turn me on and turn me down. ’
’ baby, you’re a vampire. you want blood, and i promised. ’
’ i’m a bad liar. ’
’ i’m a bad liar with a savior complex. ’
’ all the skeletons you hide, show me yours and i’ll show you mine. ’
’ i’m trying to get in the house. ’
’ i’m thinking out loud. ’
’ i’ve been playing dead my whole life. ’
’ i get this feeling whenever i feel good, it’ll be the last time. ’
’ but i feel something when i see you now. ’
’ if you’re a work of art, i’m standing too close; i can see the brush strokes. ’
’ i hate your mom. ’
’ i hate your mom. i hate it when she opens her mouth. ’
’ i hate it when she opens her mouth. ’
’ it’s amazing to me how much you can say when you don’t know what you’re talking about. ’
’ i used to light you up. now i can’t even get you to play the drums. ’
’ i don’t know what i want until i fuck it up. ’
’ i’ll climb through the window again. ’
’ right now, it feels good not to stand. ’
’ let the dystopian morning light pour in. ’
’ i’m no longer a danger to myself or others. ’
’ i can do anything i want to. ’
’ i can go home, but i’m not going to. ’
’ you can go home, but you’re not going to. ’
’ turn up the music so my thoughts don’t intrude. ’
’ i wonder if he believed songs could come true. i’m asking for it, if they do. ’
’ you don’t know what you want, or what you’re going to do: a rebel without a clue. ’
’ we spent what was left of our serotonin to chew on our cheeks and stare at the moon. ’
’ i know i lived through it to get to this moment. ’
’ i would do anything you want me to. ’
’ man, i hate this part of texas. ’
’ close my eyes, fantasize: three clicks and i’m home. ’
’ when i get back i’ll lay around. then i’ll get up and lay back down. ’
’ i’ll romanticize a quite life. ’
’ there’s no place like my room. ’
’ you had to go, i know. i know. ’
’ not even the burnouts are out here anymore. ’
’ we’ll watch the sunset and talk on a rusty swing set. ’
’ i’m always pushing you away from me, but you come back with gravity. ’
’ when i call, you come home. ’
’ i gotta go, i know. ’
’ when the sirens sound, you’ll hide under the floor, but i’m not gonna go down with my hometown in a tornado. i’m gonna chase it. ’
’ i’m driving out into the sun. let the ultraviolet cover me up. ’
’ i went looking for a creation myth and ended up with a pair of cracked lips. ’
’ roll the windows down and scream along. ’
’ everyone’s convinced it’s a government drone or an alien spaceship; either way, we’re not alone. ’
’ i’ll find a new place to be from. ’
’ i’m not afraid to disappear. ’
’ the end is here. ’
blakekathryn
jacobvanloon
theartofmadeline
kianamaiart
