little demon

[[ this could be a lullaby or a washing song or an exorcism ]]

little demon

in my child

get you gone and 

leave him mild

you must go and

he must stay

let him let go 

of today

little demon

stomp the floor

little demon

slam the door

little demon

fill his lungs

little demon

speak in tongues

little demon

foul the bed

little demon

wake the dead

little demon

in my child

get you gone and 

leave him mild

you must go and

he must stay

let him let go 

of today

Drone Pilot Blues

Woke up this morning

To the sound of a slamming door

My baby had left me

To fight another war

Wearing sneakers and jeans

Has a couple of screens

full of chat

She's the last earthly noise

in the ears of the boys

chewing khat

Woke up this evening

To the sound of her coming home

My baby's the captain

Of a killer drone.

When I ask how her day went

She has nothing to tell

When I ask what it's like

She just says, "Go to hell,

Go to hell."

Said "I might have shot a bad guy

Anyway, I called the shot."

Said "He might have done some bad things.

Or maybe not.

Maybe not."

Woke up this morning

To the sound of a slamming door

My baby had left me

To fight another war

Woke up this morning

Woke up this morning

Woke up this morning

[[ A song about the remote pilots, the remote trigger men and women who put someone in the crosshairs on their screen -- based on spy reports and on what they can see from the air -- and then fire on command. The uncertainty, the stress, the weird distance from the results. Commuting off to war in an office building and commuting home again at night. ]]

a house afire

[[ Mystery in death. This is a song about death coming upon someone and how the rest of us can only gather around and watch it happen. Another version would be (will be?) gathering round to say goodbye at the docks when a ship sails. It depends on how one goes, on how disabling and silencing it is. ]]


She got on with death

like a house afire.

She felt the spark inside,

like a new connection,

It was warming, kindling, 

then it caught and poured

from chamber to chamber

until it was done.

She was silent 

looking out through her windows

at the night

She was silent 

looking back at us circled

looking in

Until it was done, 

all we could do 

was stand at a distance,

stand and admire.

She and death got on

like a house afire.