the thing that eats you

[[ random stuff from a cowboy movie, extrapolated ]]

it is of course the size that strikes you first and last and always in the west

the big forever lies across the surface where that red star goes to rest

this cloud approaching weighs as much as any locomotive made of steel

you measure empty none by none until the all alone is all you feel

out on the land

working the land

always the land 

working you

I would accompany my pa to town each month before the next full moon

we'd spend the evenings watching dancers clomp the boards and sing at the saloon

the actresses encouraged me to get behind the stage and watch them all

the exits and the entrances were always ready for a curtain call

out on the land

working the land

always the land 

working you

there is no place to hide a body when the wind turns every breath to dust

there is no place to hide a body when the rain clouds fatten up and bust

there is no place to hide a body when the snow begins to pile high

there is no place to hide a body when the sun returns to bake it dry

he said he saw the story of his life roll through the inside of his mind

then called out to a horse he used to have like he had somewhere else to find

but he had nowhere all before him stretched out in the dying of the sun

the thing that eats you when it eats you is of course the thing you left undone

out on the land

working the land

always the land 

working you

there is no place to hide a body when the wind turns every breath to dust

there is no place to hide a body when the rain clouds fatten up and bust

there is no place to hide a body when the snow begins to pile high

there is no place to hide a body when the sun returns to bake it dry

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.

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