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The First Twenty-Five Years of My Life Lyrics by Samm Binns

2022

A pied piper among giants,
I emerged from a tiger’s jaw
with a star on my forehead.
Looking through the eye
of a needle, I saw lions
eating straw.
The gray lake of my youth
conducted ceremonies of silence,
trained me to hear the hush of expectancy
from an angel’s trumpet.
From the tilted axis of Uranus,
I fiddle-fart. Like a satyr
against reason, I first broke
wind in the valley of vapors
as a serpent of precious feathers.
A dragonfly drying its wings.
Tourists slithered downtown like a hot-spring snake.
Students carried empty journals in their backpacks.
I chased trains, walked the railroad tracks
to middle school, past the cemetery. I danced
the promenade alone and played chess with strangers.
I stole bamboo
from my neighbor’s front yard
and made a seven-holed wooden reed.
Before Saturn turned me into a wrestler,
I hit a home run into the alligator farm
and plucked figs from the tree at the scout house.
I congregated with the maggots of an outhouse.
I tied the bowline knot one-handed and said climb on.
I sat on mountains until sunrise
and shared the wilderness grace.
After my frog legs got caught
in poison ivy, a monk gifted me
hiking boots and a walking stick.
I pole
vaulted over the foothills,
wandered above the fog.
Compassion pointed me toward true north.
At Subiaco, I ran the rule
and steered the canoe
with a blind fisher king.
We exchanged dark arts, low-key
and crystalline, made of quartz,
such as: “The children stayed up all night in their tents,
telling tales of a jester who followed easterly winds.”
The one preoccupied with crafting by hand
the stone of a philosopher, searching
for a turntable and a theatre troupe.
It was the anonymous author
who speaks to darning needles. The vegetable
lamb who holds a teapot in front of their face,
daydreaming about jazz and magnolia seeds.
The sunflower who crowd surfed at the farmer’s market.
The one who sang karaoke with cicadas and Saraswati.
Just like Manjushri.
The one who played a Spanish ocarina
for Bob Kaufman in New Orleans.
The one who bought a bike from Hermes
the highroller. The one whose skateboard
was stolen by Al Capone.
The one who met Elvis in a dollar store.
The one who met John Peel in a second-hand bookshop.
The one who met Buddha in a flea market.
It was Dionysus, the one who built my staircase,
the one who stared back at me in the mirror.
It was the peacock among razorbacks,
posing nude in daylight,
eternal as canvas.
Dear pedestrian of the arcade,
you did it yourself. With
a little help from your friends.
We played canasta, hands and feet.
You lay down the double sixes
like a renunciate.
We got lost in labyrinths and crossed
over tightropes of thread. You invite them
to take a hike with you on sunset trail.
You float. Hot air balloon,
your heart burns.
Here lies the flame box elder,
who felt the vibrations of a drum head
and chanted Tibetan mantras with a praying mantis.
The field dweller wielded
their scythe and said, “I am
a sand mandala. I am the wheel.”
You go forth, empty-handed and sky-clad.
When opening the door, you carry a lantern within.
Because again and again, we must be reborn as children.
Credits
Samm Binns

Samm Binns

About “The First Twenty-Five Years of My Life” by Samm Binns

Read the complete lyrics to "The First Twenty-Five Years of My Life" by Samm Binns in 2022. On Lyrks you can follow along with the full text, explore the artist's discography, and discover related songs. The track is often categorized under Non-Music.

"The First Twenty-Five Years of My Life" is performed by Samm Binns. in 2022 This page provides the full lyric text for fans who want to sing along, study the songwriting, or compare versions across releases. Lyrks organizes lyrics by artist and song slug so you can bookmark and share a stable URL. Music lyrics help listeners connect with emotion, narrative, and rhythm in a track. Whether you are learning English, researching a favorite chorus, or preparing for karaoke, having accurate line breaks and section labels (verse, chorus, bridge) makes the experience easier. We link to the official artist profile on Lyrks where available, including biography snippets, top songs, and chart placements when we have that data. If you enjoy "The First Twenty-Five Years of My Life", explore more songs by Samm Binns using the links below. Chart and trending pages on Lyrks highlight what listeners are searching for this week. For copyright or correction requests, see our DMCA and contact pages.

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"The First Twenty-Five Years of My Life" is credited to Samm Binns. Songwriting credits may include additional writers listed on the release; check the credits section on this page for linked collaborators.

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