1. |
When It Rains, It Pours
07:16
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when it rains, it pours
and overflows all around your door
to pool and saturate the ground
is this how you live now?
to make your bed
by the bend
of the river
when it rains, it pours
on muddy roads where no more cars can go
well, they’ll spin out and get stuck out in the yard
a sedan gutted for its parts
to make a home for milkweed
or yarrow
in summer
when it rains, it pours
and white noises drown out all our words
well, it’s the sound of every sound at once
on a pallet you wonder, how did all of this start?
and who’ll make note of it
when it’s over?
when it rains, it pours
the earth didn’t need the word
(the earth did not need word)
no, form did not come first
(no, form did not come first)
to see some beauty cannot save us
but i guess it couldn’t hurt
(the earth does not need word)
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2. |
Sunday / Monday
05:37
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a petal fell from the vase
you press it into paper then watch porn on your phone
on a sunday morning
you scream a little then you pray that no one is home
you try to miss it
but mostly you just look into the meddled middle distance
on a monday night
and if tears blur your eyes, you write,
“i
know
nothing
but love”
oh,
in december how do you get confused?
by the eyes in the night sky
by the stars on the evening news
they say, “i will wait for you
‘cause i know you’re shifting blue”
in the planetarium
you realize that nothing is the biggest thing we know of
and it grows and grows
so hit the joint again and pass it down to stu
and disappear into the blue
so, disappear into the blue
oh,
how do you get confused?
by the eyes in the night sky
by the stars on the evening news
you say, “i can’t wait for you
even though you’re shifting blue”
you’re shifting blue
oh,
in december how do you get confused?
by the eyes in the night sky
by the stars on the evening news
you say, “i can’t wait for you
even though you’re shifting—
the universe is expanding
and i can’t find my room
my bathroom window’s open
but you have yet to walk through”
walk through
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3. |
& Multiply
07:27
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in the time before time cells divide and multiply
and changes made changes that had no reason at all
that had no reason at all
that had no reason—
oil burning on the stove
gabriel guessed some life would grow
from after-school freezer food
mary said, “how could this be true?”
how could this be true?
and you, you turn into another one
see the window above the sink
gabriel said that god knows everything
there’s a bug trapped in the screen
mary said, “just let me be”
just let me be
and you, you turn into another one
sing, “hark! the angels quote jurassic park”—
and wash their hands of all earthly things
and let the garden go, untending
they say,
“life, oh life, oh life
um, finds a way”
life, oh life, oh life
in the time before time cells divide & multiply
each time to leave some behind
so each kind-of wonders what made them better
doctors scoff at empty forms
as if to say, “son, you’re twenty-four
try and live a little more!”
so i sign
and i, i turn into another one
sing, “hark! the angels quote jurassic park”—
and wash their hands of all earthly things
and let the garden go, untending
they say,
“life, oh life, oh life
um, finds a way”
life, oh life
you want to eat me alive
through the double-doors at nine
reception says, “you’re right on time
just sow your seeds into this glass”
joseph says, “i guess i’ll try”
but the only thing in these magazines that’ll turn you on
are the cologne ads with the perfect abs looking down like gods
with cruel eyes, hands on their thighs
as if to say “be fruitful and multiply”
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4. |
Spring Awakening
08:06
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at midnight i make up my bed
half-wishing you were there in it
and half-happy it’s just me instead
to go to sleep with poppies ‘round my head
my half-heart makes me dizzy
keeps me a half-beat off
one chamber out of time from the rest
like a little bird inside my chest
but with a heart so full
can you even love at all?
my other half is lost, i’m told
but i don’t know
i don’t know
half-crying i make up my bed
half-thinking i could see your shape in it
but it was just the face of christ
a relic left from days gone by
but with a heart so full
can you even love at all?
my other half is lost, i’m told
but i don’t know
i don’t know
but with a heart so full
can you even love at all?
sometimes, bitterness is sweet
and the fruit dies
right on the tree
pick me
last night i half-read
an article when i should have been asleep instead
about antonio carlos jobim
and halfway through it said to me,
“let the words fall
like petals in the rain”
this is the sound of my spring awakening
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5. |
Church Camp #2
04:11
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maybe you don’t blame me
for the time i took you to church camp
was it funny? i guess it was funny
i was trembling with fear trying to convince you
with “i know it’s a way to die
i know it’s a ways away”
but i can’t stop thinking about it
that first night before bedtime
we all held our hands ‘round the fire
the next night after the bright lights
you cried and said, “i guess there’s more to life”
but i know it’s a way to die
i know it’s a ways away
but i can’t stop thinking about—
red letter bibles and bulletproof vests
immortality left a hole in my chest
bulletproof bibles, red letter vests
you’re holding up the store with an angel round your neck
second-hand bibles, letterman vests
we’re waiting on the bus to come and take us back
maybe you don’t blame me
for the time i took you to church camp
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6. |
Before the Flood i
03:07
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no, i don’t want to sleep tonight
i got history on my mind, oh
and lo! i can hear the windows open and close
birds quiet in the rosebush, oh
you left behind a garden
and a sickle in the ground, ooh
and i’ll see you around
and i know it’s not easy being dead
they’ll name a street sign after you and forget every word you said
these condos look like islands in the rain
‘cause real estate washed everything else away
and a thousand roads in rome cover up your bones
and they mispronounce your name—
restless ghost, i know you’ll haunt these homes
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7. |
ii
04:03
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terry’s watching dancing queen tonight
waiting for some star to catch her eye
tommy’s anxious looking at the sky
meanwhile, indecision is my game
i’m filling up my tank
leaving before it gets too late
daphne’s seen so many things she ain’t supposed to see
like burner phones and callbacks to his rental company
or the village on the exit ramp of highway 70
before the bulldozers came
and pushed them all away
and she said, “it’s gonna be a hard year
and i don’t know if i’ll make it long enough
to drink some beers on your auntie’s roof and watch the firework show,
but deborah i know
you won’t forget about me
and maybe you’ll see me in your dreams”
maybe you’ll see me in your dreams
that’s what i heard, at least
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8. |
iii
01:24
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sometimes these nights when i can’t sleep
i go downstairs and turn on a documentary
sometimes i get thirsty so i fill my cup up in the sink
and let the water run 'til the basin fills up, and i think:
we were lovers before the flood
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9. |
Every Night
01:55
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every night
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10. |
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the captain sleeps, but does she dream?
and if she dreams, what does she see?
what’s a conscience when unconscious
under covers or under a mask?
does she lie awake and think about
the strange habits of the upper class?
no, the sleeping pills suffice to hold that back
the captain sleeps, but does she dream? (she dreams!)
and if she dreams, does she dream of a station-house crumbling into the sea?
or a circuit judge made of oranges
burning in the californian heat?
the smell is kind of sticky, and then it’s kind of sweet
sticky and then it sticks all in her teeth
but the sleeping pills suffice to keep ‘em clean
the captain sleeps, and she has bad dreams (bad dreams!)
but she won’t reach that crystal shore
or the orange space in-between the doors—that will click twice, and then you push—
for twenty-five years or more
and though she might flick the light switch on the wall
though she might call her own name
she can’t erase the faces she locked into a cage
and though she knows it’s all just in her head,
the sleeping pills suffice to keep her in
oh, the sleeping pills will suffice to keep her in the dream!
the captain sleeps, and then she wakes up
sayin’ “what was this dream that was given to me?”
but as she thinks about it, her dream fades away,
and she rolls out of bed and makes herself a cup of coffee
and goes to work again another day
and goes to work again another day, knowing
the waking life will suffice to keep it hid
knowing the waking life will suffice to keep those kinds of things hid
away!
and such things leave no trace
so, i guess a story like this
is all speculation, anyway
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rat dreams Columbus, Ohio
ohio valley folk/art rock.
andrea, carrie, dan, jack, laura, and will.
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