don't look up to the stars

heaven protect 

children and sailors

sailors and drunken men

somewhere past the Kuiper belt

past the ring of babies unbaptized

where a star is just any star

that's where you'll see her

curled in smoke

don't look up to the stars

this nothing is permanent

this one is burning

(this one is burning so bright)

this one is glowing

(this one will not last the night)

the only forever is 

a nothing about nothingness

but that was all

before your time

this one's a baby

(this one is burning so bright)

this one is dying

(this one will not last the night)

the light in your eyes is

a prehistoric instinct

but that was all

before your time

this one exploded

(this one is burning so bright)

this one's forever

(this one will not last the night)

that star was extinguished

a million years ago

but that was all

before your time

heaven protect 

children and sailors 

sailors and drunken men 

threading the eye of a needle

a mug of coffee

steaming on the front step 

striped pajamas

stooping to the news

three martinis

waiting at the airport

Sunday morning

is turning the screws

threading the eye of a needle

meanwhile, we're dying 

strapped in our cars  

the kids in the back

watching shooting stars

meanwhile, we're dying 

slumped in a chair  

leaving EMTs

to stroke the kid's hair

going out happy

surprise, surprise

look at daddy's eyes

look at mommy's eyes

threading the eye of a needle

You can know nothing

[[ This started from two episodes in Ryszard Kapuściński, The Shadow of the Sun, and his description of how there is little in the way of twilight in Africa -- it is light and then BANG it is dark, and then, twelve hours later, BANG, it is light again. But I have let something of the ambiguous and possible hints of the metaphysical or epistemological creep into it. ]]

You can know nothing

before and after.

On the way to Kumase,

our bus stops somewhere.

A woman gathers to herself her children.

She rests her bowl upon her head

and walks into the trees.

You can know nothing

before and after.

When the sun comes up,

there is no prelude to rising.

This is the old adventure.

On the Serengeti,

our truck has a flat.

Lions rest round shreds of antelope.

They watch us half an hour, then rise

and walk into the grass.

You can know nothing

before and after.

When the sun goes down,

it is gone.

This is the old adventure.

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

what do you see in the dark?

[[ Mine work, mine family.  ]]

daddy comes up 

from working the mine

black as sin

mama goes to him 

and strips him and 

scours his skin

come on up, daddy, 

and we can have breakfast

leave off that dirty old work

come and cheer mama up 

tell us a story

what do you see in the dark,

my daddy?

what do you see in the dark?

daddy works nights 

and comes out of the ground  

with the sun

mama feeds daddy

then says come to bed,

your day's done

come on up, daddy, 

and we can have breakfast

leave off that dirty old work

come and cheer mama up 

tell us a story

what do you see in the dark,

my daddy?

what do you see in the dark?

invisible forces

it's only a song

only a song

this earth is a ball 

holding together 

with nothing at all 

holding together 

but invisible forces

mysterious forces 

only this breath can  

hold off the dark 

keep us from death

hold off the dark 

only this blue breath of sky...

with invisible forces

mysterious forces 

a current running 

through the earth 

beneath our feet

hey, little boy

you have dirt

between your toes

and every time you fart

I know the way

the wind blows

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

drawn to water

Our pale daughter,

drawn to water,

wears her outside in.

She first spoke for us

at two, on the bus:

"I am inside my skin." 

She first noticed me

when she was three

humming a wandering tune.

"Sing me the one

with the moon and sun.

I am the sun in the moon."