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

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

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?

the family myth

in the family myth

we escape winter

we escape water 

we escape the amnesia of the sea

and somehow there's me

in the family myth

we escape desert 

we escape searchers 

we escape the arbitrary decree 

and somehow there's me

all of this must be true

because somehow there's me

and somehow there's you

in the family myth

we escape cages

we escape rages

we escape the rogues of history 

and somehow there's me

in the family myth

we escape post-war

we escape closed door

we escape the Land of the Free

and somehow there's me

all of this must be true

because somehow there's me

and somehow there's you

in the family myth

we know their order to shoot on sight

we cross the border and move by night

and go on

in the family myth

we cross the water of a rolling sea

and all of us, some of us, one of us

must slip free

and go on

in the family myth

we escape exposure 

we escape erasure

we escape the men who hack the family tree
and somehow there's me

all of this must be true

because somehow there's me

and somehow there's you

Imagined Geography 6: Limes Song

tell Olivia 

the view from this wall

it is beautiful

this river ever flowing

it is beautiful

the distant green-grey hills

all are beautiful

tell Olivia

if you get back to Rome

she is beautiful

tell Olivia

if you get back to Rome

I wish I were there

here is her picture

a lock of her hair

when you get back to Rome

say I wish I were there

Imagined Geography 5: Vienna Song

this is Vienna

beneath this dome

under the car park

this is my home

hopping the turnstiles

dodging the landlord

looking for something

hidden here before

under Vienna

city in ruins

city of ghosts

all up in smoke

you take the fast train

nightime from Linz

something seen once

never seen since

not since Vienna

Imagined Geography 4: Texas Song

Texas is its own religion

Texas is the belle of the ball

Everyone is born in Texas

Texas can bear it all

Everything is big in Texas

Texas is a thousand miles tall

Everyone is born in Texas

Texas can bear it all

Texas is as big as all Texas [[ x times ]]

They cross the big river,

listening to Jesus,

but finding the devil

in a counterfeit star.

Everyone is welcome in Texas

Texas doesn't need a wall

Everyone is born in Texas

Texas can bear it all

Texas is as big as all Texas [[ x times ]]

They cross the big river,

listening to Jesus,

but finding the devil

in a counterfeit star.

Texas is as big as all Texas [[ x times ]]

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.