northern territories (run him down)

[[ Based on the "Albert Johnson" case of 1931-1932 but not a slave to the page. ]]

That was never his real name.

He wasn't from around here.

He was a nothing from nowhere,

come north to disappear.

A minor legal infraction

put the Mounties on his case,

but he was no one for no one

and so began the chase.

When the game gets up to run,

all you can do,

all you can do

is run him down.

They tried negotiations;

He put a shot through the door.

They tried to reason man to man,

but he was no man anymore.

They chased him up the river;

he went over the divide.

They chased him through the winter

till one of them died.

 

And that was it, son. You don't kill a Mountie and run.

When the game gets up to run,

all you can do,

all you can do

is run him down.

Leave his carcass steaming on the ground.

seance (I'm the flick of a switch)

[[ Fairly obvious. End-of-life medical care and typical family gathering to see the person out. The person is more than ready to go. (Also, this is my living will: snuff me out when things get bad.) ]]

Die in hospital 

Holes in skin

Tubes go out

Tubes go in

That's the balance

Lungs abubble

Every breath

One for life

One for death

That's the balance

Now gather round

and watch me burn down,

my tribe around a fire.

I'm the flick of a switch.

Turn off the light

and look for the spark

from the end of this frayed wire.

I'm the flick of a switch.

Let me go.

I'm the flick of a switch.

Stop the meter. This is the end of my ride.

intentional love song 19: this is how you fall in love

[[ This could be a silly little old-fashioned song with some flighty young thing dodging the advances of a Maurice Chevalier type, or it could be a thing of menace with an awful creeper pushing himself on her. Or both. Is she feeling safe and free to choose? Or is she actually in a scary spot and feeling like she has no choice? And play with the genders to get interesting results: she's a he and he's a she, or two women, or two men. ]]

oh, look at the time

oh, how it's getting late

oh, here comes my train 

oh, get me out of here, out of here,

oh, here comes my fate

this is where a girl should be careful

what was I thinking of?

this is where a boy could be a handful

this is how you fall in love

oh, look at the time

oh, how it's getting late

oh, there goes my train 

oh, get me out of here, out of here,

oh, here comes my fate

this is where a girl should be careful

what was I thinking of?

this is where a boy could be more than a handful

this is how you fall in love

this is where a girl should be careful
this is where a girl should be coy

this is where a girl should be forceful

this is where a girl should be

this is where a girl should be

this is where a girl should be

this is how you fall in love 

intentional love song 18: if they come for us

if they come for us, honey, we'll run 

we will wish ourselves 

into existence, 

we will wish ourselves 

far, far away

listen for thunder, 

count off the seconds,

wait for the falling rain

hurry the two of us 

up to the hilltop 

try to catch lightning again

neither here nor there

the heretofore hereafter
that definite infinite
those undeserved deserts
are dying with us

there, now, there, there
she's in the hereafter
one of the winged choir
perched on a rafter

(no one has ever
heard anything dafter)

now, there, now now
he's in the eternal
all the liars pluck lyres
to tunes from the hymnal

(no one has ever 
told something more criminal)


the elsewhere,
the otherwhere,
the anywhere,
the somewhere,
the nowhere,
now they are neither
here nor there

before she

listen to this conversation

listen to him hedge

she makes him dig his grave and

stand at the edge

walk away before she

before she

before she

do you recognize this city?

somewhere that you knew?

the woman in the window

floats out of view

walk away before she

before she

before she

venus and the lion man

[[ This is Venus and the lion man and a nod to last week's potatoes.  ]]

Venus and the lion man

emerge from the soil

rooted up with this year's crop 

of bulging potatoes.

toys of inspiration or the

roots of reproduction?

all cooked up by

last week's potatoes.

Venus and the lion man

emerge from the earth.

when are you coming down?

I see your eyes when 

I close my eyes

clouded like summer could rain

I see your eyes when 

I close my eyes

sunlight will not come again

when are you coming down, darling?

summer is fading away

autumn is whirling in dark clouds of starling  

loving is only today

when are you coming down, darling, my darling?

summer is fading away

unmolested

I'm not a talker 

but tonight 

we can talk

let's get outside and 

find a place 

we can walk 

let's find a place we can walk back time 

let's find a place we can walk unmolested

if it's not too late 

if it's not too late 

i am swimming and breathing in this atmosphere

maybe just one more beer 

let me bend your ear

i am gasping and grasping collapsing in this atmosphere

let's get right out of here
let me lend you an arm, my dear

intentional love song 17: a girl from Love Canal

she was a girl from Love Canal

she had a taste for the banal  

now she is dead - what of it?

now she is dead - what of it?

only her and me and the river, and only the only river means a thing

we would park out by the river

i would give what i could give her

now she is dead - what of it?

now she is dead - what of it?

only her and me and the river, and only the only river means a thing

she smelled of coconut and woman

i was young and barely human

now she is dead - what of it?

now she is dead - what of it?

now she's gone with her family

nothing and nothing to do with me

only her and me and the river, and only the only river means a thing

paint by numbers

this life you're given 

is paint-by-numbers

one numbered picture

some numbered paints 

this is the picture 

what is supposed to be

some bright family 

only somebody 

down at the factory 

must have packed for me 

the colors for a picture they called "Storm on the Sea" 

this is the picture 

here are my wife and son 

blue-gray like a gun

this is the picture 

graphite and stone and flint 

day to day living skint

this is the picture 

charcoal and stone 

thunder and shadow

charcoal and stone 

this is the picture 

dancing with Bobby

[[ I like writing to a video, a movie, usually with the sound down. This one started with that Bobby Banas Nitty Gritty clip that went around. ]]

Who's that dancing out there with our baby Bobby? (dancing with baby Bobby)
White dress, white shoes, white ribbon
She can hardly keep her hands off baby Bobby (hands off baby Bobby!)
White dress, white shoes, white ribbon

Does Bobby even go - for a girl like that?
Would Bobby maybe go - for a girl like me?
Does Bobby even go - for the girls at all? Like, really.
Does Bobby even go? Let's see.

Here comes Bobby
Pouring though the crowd
Hair set to midnight
Smile set to loud

Listen to Bobby, baby,
What does he say?
He says "Can't get enough of this beat"
He says "Can't help but move my feet"

 

singing at the end of the world

now it's never
dark at night

long midsummer
in my mind

morning dose of
fool euphoria

then alone till
late at night

light still burning
in my head

---

birds are singing
even here

even at the
end of the world

birds are singing
birds are singing

let's go out to
where the birds are

singing at the
end of the world