I stand where the rubber balls wait
Three for a ticket, none for a crown
The bottles grin in a crooked row
Already knowing they won’t go down
We came back carrying different faces
Mine still silver from the glass
Yours looks tired under the bulbs
But you lift your arm and laugh
The ball leaves clean
The bottles stay
A bell almost rings
Then keeps its light
Your hand comes back
With nothing bright
But your wrist still glows
From trying tonight
Miss and glow
Miss and glow
The prize was never
What we came to know
Miss and glow
Miss and glow
We lose the game
But keep the throw
Miss and glow
Miss and glow
The empty hand
Still learns to show
A stuffed blue tiger hangs above us
Stitched with a smile too wide to trust
Its plastic eyes keep catching color
Winning always gathers dust
I throw again and miss the center
You miss the left by half a breath
The man behind the counter yawns
And mercy wears a paper vest
Miss and glow
Miss and glow
The prize was never
What we came to know
Miss and glow
Miss and glow
We lose the game
But keep the throw
Miss and glow
Miss and glow
The empty hand
Still learns to show
Ball
Arc
Near
No
Hand
Back
Still
Glow
I thought the mirror gave me back
A face too plain to bring outside
But here it is beneath the bulbs
Missing badly, open-eyed
We do not need the tiger down
We do not need the bell to sing
A loss can shine without a crown
A little gold around the sting
Miss and glow
Miss and glow
The prize was never
What we came to know
Miss and glow
Miss and glow
We lose the game
But keep the throw
Miss and glow
Miss and glow
The empty hand
Still learns to show
Miss and glow
Miss and glow
If nothing comes
We still can go
The booth keeps shining
The shelf stays full
We walk away laughing
Lighter from the pull