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

tomorrow

church bells

a festival

a woman

singing

soul and flesh in

a single ecstasy

tapping at the window

a curious bird or

a friend coming by or

a branch in the wind?

stretched legs

from hips to toes

a woman

letting

go of tension

a turning ceiling fan

sweetness in the air   

a gift for us or

for some other species or

for sweetness itself?

a new coin tossed

shining in her hand

and dare she look

at fate in her palm?

at unplucked berries  

warm in the sun?

Imagined Geography 3: Oklahoma Song

Have you seen the sky 

open over the plain?

One minute, soft moonlight,

then thunder and rain.

Have you seen the sky 

come to swallow you whole?

I have seen a town vanish

soul by soul by soul.

Have you seen what God thinks
of an Oklahoma town?

I have heard God roar

and then swat one down.

Have you seen the sky 

open over the plain?

One minute of dying,

then clear sky again.

now where were we?

[[ a song about how we try to find and describe our own consciousness ]]

now where were we?

the parts of the thing
try to trace
the shape of the thing

a beam of light
tries to see
the source of the light

the wind in the air
wants to know
the sun and the air

we are
nowhere in particular, we are
a bend in the road, we are
a draft through a door, we are
the iridescence of fly, we are
an eddy in a river running down to the end of all time

now where were we?

not this fucking time of year again

[[ musically, a Christmas carol ]]

[[ this part in imitation of bells ]] 

not this 

fucking 

time of 

year a-

gain

[[ the sound of a church choir ]] 

all the skies are gray and lifeless (gray and lifeless)

all the winds are sharp and cold (sharp and cold)

all the roads are wet and icy (wet and icy)

all my bones 

two hundred six! 

the pops and clicks! 

the cracks and cricks! 

are so old

someone else's strange religion (strange religion)

someone else's hopes and fears (hopes and fears)

someone else's gongs and jangles (gongs and jangles)

someone's god 

three-headed -- weird!

one mainly beard!

all of them feared!

in my ears... [[ quiet, crescendo, and then the bang ]]

Bang! all the metal in your towers!

See if I fucking care 

Bang! all the metal in your towers!

Give all the birds a scare 

[[ a chorus imitating bells and singing in bell terms rather than Latin ]]

peal [[ repeated with combinations of the others ]]

nominal

quint

tierce

prime

hum [[ let this one be the last and lowest tone still ringing ]]

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

the wind blowing through

The wind blowing through
this house is the same wind
east wind, east wind,
always blowing through.

The walls holding up
this house are the same
but it's been through some times
and the names have all changed

And the wind blowing through
this house is the same wind
east wind, east wind,
always blowing through.

The glass in these windows
has been in the street
shards in the garden
still under our feet

And the wind blowing through
this house is the same wind
east wind, east wind,
always blowing through.

hot war
cold war
you hear the drumming
hot war
cold war
a different war coming

A spirit coiled (the mocking ghost)

[[ this one began with something real -- Diplacusis dysharmonica, Diplacusis echoica -- and turned into a spirit walking at night in my peripheral hearing and mocking me, and this became a song to be sung with chants and drums and a chorus of mocking spirits]]

[the predicament of the soul]
A spirit coiled
in the curl
of my ear

talks to me
like a lurker
in the other room

I cannot tell
above the wind
that whistles by

Is this the me
who's talking? Whose
tongue is this?

My mind or spi
rit coiled within
my inner ear?

Whose tongue is curled
in my left ear?
Come out now!

[one explanation of the soul's predicament]
They say
the mocking ghost
will walk your words
back home.

They say
the mocking ghost
will turn your tale
around.

They say
the mocking ghost
will live in your
left ear.

[chant of the mocking ghost in insect voices]
They say
the mocking ghost
They say
the mocking ghost
They say
the mocking ghost

[wonderment from within]
My mind
or flight of birds?

My mind
or branches aching?

My mind
or not my mind?

[another explanation of the soul's predicament]

They say 

the mocking ghost
will show
another you.

They say
the mocking ghost
will bend the light
round you.

They say
the mocking ghost
will live in your
left ear.

[chant of the mocking ghost in insect voices]
They say
the mocking ghost
They say
the mocking ghost
They say
the mocking ghost

branches in my pathway

[[ I like a straight blues form. This one is literal and allegorical. A real storm, but also the difficulties and decisions in life, and we have an appearance by Bede's sparrow. ]]

verse 1:
I've got branches in my pathway
I've got the wind in my face
I've got branches in my pathway
I've got the wind in my face
Pull one star from the night sky
Leave a darkness in its place

verse 2:
Wind is whistling down the chimney
Wind is whistling down the stair
Wind is whistling down the chimney
Wind is whistling down the stair
Leave a door waiting open
For a thought too hard to bear

middle:
Fly in at one door, sparrow,
Fly out the other

verse 3:
I've got branches in my pathway
I've got my face in the blast
I've got branches in my pathway
I've got my face in the blast
Leaving no trail behind me
And the horizon's coming fast