Still Burning

The fire still burns
A phone call, an email
And you're off in pursuit
Trying to beat the next guy
Hoping to get the scoop
Talk to dozens a day
Wondering whose lying
And whose telling the truth
Not always so easy to figure out
What comes out of someone's mouth

Stop and start and start and stop
Build up and tear down
Spend an hour writing the perfect sentence
Only to have it rewritten by some clown

And then another call
Throws the story out the window
Back on the hunt for the truth
Or at least some version of it that will stick to the wall
Then the chefs all come in
To mess with the ingredients in my soup
By the time they are done shaking and stirring
You often don't recognize what's sitting in the pot
It doesn't look the same and the taste is gone
Oh if only you could have yelled stop

Stop and start and start and stop
Build up and tear down
Spend an hour writing the perfect sentence
Only to have it rewritten by some clown

So you push back a little
And bit by bit try to get something you can live with
In the end your story is a urinal
That everybody takes a piss in
Yet when that phone rings again
The fire starts all over
Your heart beats faster
This time you'll stay up all night
Won't stop until you get the answers
And your blood is all over the keys