accidental woman

[[ we are accidents and constructs with agency -- and the radio is our body ]]

I'm an accidental woman

a woman can come and go

I'm an accidental woman

I am a song on this radio

this is only skin

just another hotel room

flesh is a fashion

you can wear until your doom

or step on out of

and step into something new

we can get out of this

what we put into this

we can get out of this

what we make of this

what we make of this

is how we will be

I'm an accidental woman

I could as easily be the man

just a switch in my making

make a change to that plan

I am my own distraction

I paint my lips on

and put on a smile

when I look in a mirror

I get my kink in

I am my own distraction

see how these clothes hang

from my soft shoulders

just pull on over

and let it sink in

when I check the mirror

I turn my head

I'm an accidental woman

a woman can come and go

I'm an accidental woman

I am a song on this radio

intentional love song 6: bird at night

[[ moving old props around the stage ]]

what's the bird that sings at night?

poems rhyme about nightingales

but it's winter here and cold

and I don't think we have nightingales

in our trees

so what's the bird that sang just now?

now the cars have all gone

and the trains have shut down

and everyone else has drifted away

in the freeze?

every song has a moon

when you're up all night and lonely

every song has a moon and stars

when your days are right

all my songs have only you

and we're all alone

think I'll go out to hear that bird

if that bird hasn't flown away 

don't lock the door behind me

I'm just going to see what I hear

I won't take the keys

lunar haiku

ancient Apollo 

computer just big enough 

to write hello world

VIII

[[let's do it as a song lyric]]

VIII

American fighter pilots 

from the battleship states

flex a muscle for America

flex a muscle for God

pack 'em in tightly 

side by each with Jesus 

flex a muscle for America

flex a muscle for God

pack 'em in tightly 

shoulder to shoulder 

wind 'em up tight

and let 'em go

they shoot off 

spouting voodoo 

looking for the moon

they shoot a hole 

through the pure blue

inject themselves into space 

up where no up is, 

no down (won't stay down), 

out where no air is, 

no sound (so no sound)

Merry Xmas

according to scripture

according to script

sextant and star chart

slip around behind 

the man in the moon 

flex a muscle for America

flex a muscle for God

aim this can of man meat 

at that blue ornament

flex a muscle for America

flex a muscle for God

Apollo 8

[[ Parts knocked together here for now, for safekeeping. It will be a song or a poem, maybe. ]] 

Three fit ex-fighter pilots 

from battleship states 

packed their flavors of jesus, 

their bulging instructions 

for god, and shot themselves

into the sky to the place 

where no up is, no down, 

absolutely no air, so no sound, 

and slipped round behind 

the man in the moon, 

nestled side by each, out of 

sight for three quarters of 

an hour looking down and 

surveying the wreckage 

while control held its breath. 

When out from behind the

behind at last they came 

and caught earth looking 

back, relieved, the trio 

prayed and took souvenir

shots of the blue ball 

hanging in front of them. 

the time between

what they wanted
was to trap it,

diagram it
get the coordinates
but that's where the trouble starts.

all we wanted
was to cut the tension

break the silence
excavate the evidence

signs that we were still alive

to pass the time between

when we were children 

when we were grown

to pass the time between

when we were smoking teens

when we were smoking teens

we put out cigarettes 

on our skin

we carved our arms

with kitchen scissors

we wanted ugly
wanted ugly

to cut through the angry

to cut through the sad

to punish ourselves

for being so bad

to show you

this is how much 

this skin can hurt

this is how much 

this nothing hurts
this is how much

cut the tension

break the silence

dig up evidence that we were still alive

cut the tension

break the silence

excavate the evidence

we are alive

spiral staircase

[[ just another song about love and evolution ]]

how much I love you

first to last

written in my bones

woven in my skin

how much I love you

first to last

first there was flesh

then the flesh became word

and wrote itself

stepping forever

a step at a time

testing each step

up the spiral staircase

once we were fish

you feel it in your womb

swim for its life

stepping forever

a step at a time

testing each step

up the spiral staircase

first there was flesh

then the flash of the fish

leapt on the shore

stepping forever

a step at a time

testing each step

up the spiral staircase

how much I love you

first to last

written in my bones

woven in my skin

how much I love you

first to last

I give you my word

cat and bird and me

bird in a cage

cat on the floor

me in my chair

she's out the door

bird in a cage

cat on the floor

me at the window

still feeling sore

cat and bird and me are doing fine (we don't need your company, we're doing just fine)

cat and bird and me are doing fine (we don't need your company, we're doing just fine)

but if \ you've got \ the need \ for me and mine... we've got the time

bird in front of me

cat behind

me at the table

papers all signed

cat in the garden

bird in the sky

me with the car keys

going out to die

cat and bird and me are doing fine (we don't need your company, we're doing just fine)

cat and bird and me are doing fine (we don't need your company, we're doing just fine)

dust off the stereo

turn up the knob

a day like this makes a man glad he doesn't have a job

dust off my daydreams

well what about that?

plan a vacation for a man and a bird and a cat

bird back in his cage

cat on the floor

I'll eat this apple

down to the core

bird in his cage (I think I'll teach him a song)

cat on the floor (I'll take him out for a walk)

me in my chair (yeah, I'm a rocker)

she's out the door (oughta change that lock)

cat and bird and me are doing fine (we don't need your company, we're doing just fine)

cat and bird and me are doing fine (we don't need your company, we're doing just fine)

but if \ you've got \ the need \ for me and mine... we've got the time

intentional love song 5: a little smoke

woman in a black dress

smoking secret cigarettes

says come and be the last man 

I'll ever kiss this year

roll down the highway

stop to buy some smoke

look around for a place to let

and drive on, drive on

woman in another state

says she's got a couch to spare

if I don't mind a little smoke

I say I don't mind 

a little smoke

she said the last man I ever kissed

was the last man I ever kissed

xmas 2: home at midnight

Home at midnight, 

Christmas Eve,

just in time to

wipe my sleeve 

across my nose 

and stumble in

from staying out

and pouring gin

for folk like me

who congregate

in other places 

on this date,

just in time to

kiss the cats

and wish them

lots of chubby rats.

xmas 1: some other creature

Down in the stables,
animal talk
is an everyday thing,
and animals walk

still wet and finding
the length of their limbs
as the day softens
and the light dims,

opening night
to that star overhead,
and some other creature
in a straw bed.

intentional love song 4: this demon love

imagine a demon 

controlling your heart

closing the valves 

and pulling them apart

the demon in your heart 

opens a door 

to see who shows

the demon in your heart 

opens a door 

to see who goes

this demon love 

that lives in your heart

beats out the rhythm

where all loves start

beats out the fire

that made your love burn

starts a new fire

because you never learn

intentional love song 3: not that it's true

[[ she (or he?) wants a change in the dynamics of their relationship or a change in herself (himself?) or she/he wants to leave him/her or she wants a sex reassignment or she wants to attain nirvana or she wants to kill herself or... ]]

what if I wanted

-- not that it's true --

to vanish forever?

what would we do?

what if I wanted

-- not that it's true --

to change... 

man to woman,

woman to man,

what would we do?

who would be who?

what if I wanted

-- not that it's true --

it's a simple thought experiment 

between me and you

what if I wanted

-- not that it's true --

to vanish forever

from you?

what would you do?

what if I wanted

nothing at all?

I am standing on the edge of this world

will you help me let go of this girl?

do you love me 

enough to let her go?

who wants 

a girl who wants

nothing at all?

who wants a girl... who wants a girl?

who wants a girl... who wants a girl?

who wants a girl... who wants a girl? 

intentional love song 2: under the hood (internal combustion)

[[ internal combustion, four-stroke engine ]]

got to get down 

under the hood

make it

make it 

make it

make it good

you know how the strokes go

intake, compression, combustion, exhaust

you know how the strokes go

intake, compression, combustion, exhaust

you know how the strokes go

suck, squeeze, bang, blow.

when love runs down

you've got to 

when love runs down

you've got to 

when love runs down

you've got to 

check the pressure

charge it up

snug the lug nuts

pop the top

adjust the clutch

grease the gears

new sparks and shocks

or this baby walks

intentional love song 1: other side of the world

where are you

when you're here 

in my hand

glowing back at me?

where you are

do you touch

your fingers 

to my words?

where you are

is your face 

floating bright 

in the dark?

where you are

do you think of

faraway people 

you'll never see?

people in places 

you'll never be?

is one of those people me?

it's midnight here and the sky is black

but the moon is turning the tide

I know you're there with the sun on your skin

how is it there on the other side?

on the other side of the world?

bullets are faster

watch a man die

on a corner some night

it starts with a look

it starts up a fight

it starts to look bad

when your man pulls a gun

it starts off a miniature

war against one

they tell him to get the fuck

down on the ground

they tell him but

bullets are faster

bullets are faster than sound

might as well step

in the way of a train

"get the fuck..." comes

with a shot to the brain

they tell him to get the fuck

down on the ground

they tell him but

bullets are faster

bullets are faster than sound

watch a man die

on a corner some night

it starts with a look

it starts up a fight

climb the dark stairs

what's this bubbling 

up in my blood?

what's steaming

under the hood?

mother in the garden

fire in the kitchen 

mother in the garden

fire again

put down the pony 

frogs in the basement

neighbors on the party line

frogs in the well

lights in the drive

blue, red, and turning 

mother in the garden

something is burning

under the car at night

holding a torch for father

smell of spilled gasoline

orange of cigarette

smoke up the chimney

the game on teevee

twisting the aerial

pictures of snow

caught in the thunder

running in the rain 

wet camera jolting 

and jolting and jolting 

stories to 

sleep on

the dark and 

the bells

Nancy, Sikes,

Silver, Kim,

shipwrecked and 

kidnapped

and

climb the dark stairs

tempest and midsummer

salt and vinegar

the Russians in winter

alone in the woods

under the car at night

holding a torch for father

smell of spilled gasoline

orange of cigarette

mother in the garden

fire in the kitchen 

mother in the garden

fire again

stories to sleep on

climb the dark stairs

Jack Robinson

[[ using all manner of cliche and a repetitive first line as the rhyme to tell the story of a man on a corner who saw another man die ]]

Man was standing here

before my own eyes

this was before your time

Man was standing here

stabbed in the back

before you could say knife

Man was standing here

straight in the eye

saw his soul leave his body

Man was standing here

then he was down forever

you could cut the atmosphere

Man was standing here

never learned his name

he was here and then he was gone

pour/poor me

[[ drunk talk of revolution by people who don't know 

pour me a drink, poor pitiful me, poor impecunious me, and pour drunken me into bed 

I'll fill in the blanks later

bonus: Trump tweets on Christmas eve about being alone "poor me" -- that's what it will be

]]

oh pour/poor me

oh pour/poor me

oh pour/poor me...

a cup of that sweet manifesto

and talk to me more of that dirty revolutio [[ re-vol-u-she-oh ]]

no time for your cha-chas

we're talking bout Caracas

then pour me

oh pour me

oh pour me...

into bed

everybody hugs a need

[[ she's had enough ]]

it's not the word 

so much as the deed

everybody hugs a need

he says he loves me

more than his weed

but everybody hugs a need

when everything is confessed 

and all your buttons are pressed 

before you're even half-undressed

I should have seen it coming

before it hit me in my face

he backs round the room 

when he should lead

everybody hugs a need

X-ray Tex

someone run and get me 

an x-ray technician

think I see a shadow on my heart

someone run and get me 

some self-medication

think I see a shadow on my heart

turn up! (turn up!)

the radiation! (radiation!)

think I see a shadow on my heart

doctor see a shadow 

right there on my chart

doctor find something 

hiding behind my heart

perched in a cage

built of my bone

set on a swing

and singing alone

this little bird

is singing a song

of something gone wrong

tick, tick, tick

something no longer

follows the script

down to the caves

[[ A song about love at the end of our time ]]

let's go down to the caves today 

and carve our names

let's go down to the caves today

and count the waves 

when this city falls in the sea

that's when you'll marry me

my stranger

that's when you'll marry me

when the ocean swallows this town   

that's when we'll settle down

my stranger

that's when we'll settle down

close to hand

[[ Just another song about Mesolithic life. ]]


What we eat,
muscle and fat,
is what we can.

And then the skin,
fur and feather,
tooth and tusk,
belly and bladder,
tendon and bone,
we put to use.

What kept them warm
will keep us warm.
What cut their enemy down
will cut ours down.

We make our tools
from what we find.
We work with what
is close to hand.

The sharp edge
of a broken stone.
The borrowed points
of other creatures.

And when we die,
we bury ourselves
in dirt and stone
with antler and flint,
belly and bone.

where and when she was

this is where and when she was 

I remember nothing from yesterday 

but this is where and when she was 

I could draw you a picture 

I could draw a picture of her, 

where and when she was

in a thunderstorm, 

sheltering under 

a bronze monument

on a cross-country bus, 

buried in her hair,

all out of Mississippi

sunburnt on the grass 

at the fire hall field day

after all summer 

clinging to a railing, 

orange shorts, orange shirt, 

orange roller blades

standing waist-deep 

in an Arizona lake 

and watching me back

crossing a street, 

her skirt gently swaying 

as she disappears 

[[ all real images, not all the same person ]]

where lightning struck her

I met a woman

mostly hidden and cold

She's got a scar 

where lightning struck her

when she stopped growing old.

I met a woman,

life etched in her skin 

She's got a mark

where life ran out 

and the sickness got in.

but she could knock the paint off a saint

and she does

I met a woman

mostly cold and hidden

She's got a line 

you could talk right up to

but the rest is forbidden

fingertips on her skin

you trace her origin

here is the mother 

who beat her to hell

here is the father 

who loved her too well