catch me on the comedown

catch me on the comedown
brought on by indecision’s fate
the thief who stole my precious time
won’t get very far with it
look longer at my tattered face
if you think you can handle spying
the sight of lost memories
wrapped up in a stranger’s tired gaze
distortions always seem to go
in the positive direction
but my flight is on a downward spiral
so heaven help the one who’d follow me there
catch me on the comedown
if only to hear my voice
solemn, quiet, low and frightened
though it might shake you to your core
catch me on the comedown
if only to hold my hand
and sing along with crying angels
whose broken wings look a lot like mine
they’ll pass right through the most fiery things
and tear you up if you aren’t careful
be wary all the way down, my friend
and don’t you even dare look up
I know, none of this is much fun at all
and the people seem so sour
but sit near me as I question what I did
to land in such a wretched place

Garbage Notes:

For this first session I’ve chosen this poem because I feel like more than any other piece in the collection it really reflects the imagery captured in the cover art designed by Natàlia Pàmies.

I’ll probably do another post detailing the different variations and proposals that Natalia presented to me for the book, but what I loved about this one is how it captures the theme of existential despair that runs throughout the collection.

More than anything it invokes the sense of being overwhelmed by life and the feeling of having fallen from a great height, losing one’s identity and never quite being able to get back up and find yourself again.

But, dig a little deeper, and the poem is really a call for aid and support. A rally cry to those who have been through similar situations. So that collectively we can all catch one another. And lift each other up. It’s about recovery. It’s about camaraderie and mutual presence.

We can save each other. We don’t all have to remain in that wretched place. Because the struggles of life—the difficulty of stress and work and the horrors of just being alive—these crises are universal. And it doesn’t take much to reach out and hold another person’s hand if they need it.

You can read the full originally published Garbage Notes for ‘catch me on the comedown’ right here, back when I explained a bit more about what inspired it.

And you can buy my new book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and pretty much everywhere else books are sold.

Franco Amati 2026

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