1. |
graves of gravity
02:16
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1. graves of gravity (2:19) i won’t fall asleep if yer talking to me ø if you will sing i will try not to dream ø i work all the time and i lie it’s just life ø it should be alright if it don’t work out just right ø the silence i find that i never can find but i stick noise inside and i lock you outside ø mostly i wish that my prayers would suffice to bring yr words near when the morning turns night ø i’ll sweep yr grave clean and try to get a memory but this dirt that i see is my mind peeling seeds ø ø i miss you my heart sighs and eyes turn to dust ø i miss most when i just don’t miss you that much ø ø knowing to release but hoping to squeeze obsess memories for a proud mouth to feed and the words i discuss are more than enough to never add up: we never are us ø ø graves of gravity ø yr grave is gravity ø
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2. |
twinbrook, farewell
01:05
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2. twinbrook, farewell (1:06) the sun has honored you with a display over the shopping mall: pink blue and red ø the clouds were purple everyone knew you were dead ø ø the fawn was killed for you ø the grass at braddock and wakefield ø the vultures circled over the rushour traffic on friday ø the rodents hungered ø the park is closed at dark ø
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3. |
76543
03:52
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3. 76543 (3:53) there’s a time to turn the other cheek and a time to turn up the tables ø there’s a time when a month’s a week and a time when i will just say so ø there’s no time to turn the other cheek when yer busy turning up tables ø there’s no time to hide what you seek when the nodding heads spit so ungrateful ø ø money changing into the same thing when Jesus comes back and checks my bank account life savings ø 7 6 5 4 3 what runs down? everything ø the sheep turns into a thief steals my mass for energy ø ø there’s a time when i have time enough and time when “why isn’t this week a month?” ø there’s a season in between yr freezing tears and a time when i have no time for please ø i’m not sleeping but i don’t feel quite awake ø i’m not fasting but i haven’t eaten in some days ø 7 6 5 4 3 ø ø ø a gift or a test? rest and see just how blessed ø my wings may have fallen off but i dropped on God’s nest on top of ya’ll ø you see me falling down but you cannot seize me now perched atop the temple grounds my cash is out my coins are round ø ø money changing into ø ø ø 76543 ø what slows down? everything ø the sheep turns into a thief 7ø6ø5ø4ø3 ø
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4. |
willow
02:41
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4. willow (2:41) i had a fever for 2 days straight ø i heard the wind blow and the branches break ø there’s moths in the attic and bears in the backyard ø there’s ants in the basement and a scorpion in the bathtub ø ø willow will you break? willow will you bend? into a fishing net ø into an easter basket ø into a new bad habit ø ø i had a fever for 3 days straight ø i watched basketball ø i watched us lose by 38 ø there’s spiders in the toilet ø there’s a raccoon eating from the birdfeeder ø there’s hornets in our coffeemugs and now we’re spitting hornets out ø ø ø
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5. |
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5. you get what you paid for (1:23) it’s as if mom told us it’s as if mom warned us about not doing certain things oh wait she did ø it’s as if yr dad got mad when you stayed up late eating candy oh wait he never found out about that ø yr check’s in the mail ø yr check’s in the mail ø yr check’s in the mail ø yr check’s in the mail ø yr check’s in the mail ø ø ø ø
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6. |
housechores, heartaches
02:14
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6. housechores, heartaches (2:19) i put the dirty dishes back onto the shelf ø i tried to clean the plates but that scum got scraped back onto myself ø ø you spin-cycle my heart with a chore that i swore i should start ø the floor is caked we leave the stains ø my love becomes a fork left in the microwave ø ø the trashcan overflows half a week til next trash day i recycle what i should have just thrown away as i refold the laundry dripping wet i fold my hands again these hands more wrinkled than the pants that i forgot to hang they said ø ø “you spin-cycle my heart with a chore that i swore i should start” ø ø ø ø
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7. |
why do we fall down?
01:43
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7. why do we fall down? (1:43) i fell down the well in my backyard ø in my own backyard ø and hit the water hard ø in my backyard ø now i’m down here sitting in the dark ø cold damp dark ø and no one’s going to hear me when i bark ø shout and bark ø but my mom ø my dad and my mom ø all my friends and family ø cos i fell down the well in my backyard ø ø
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8. |
*
00:05
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9. |
steady the apiary
02:10
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9. steady the apiary (2:19) there are billions of bees in the walls of my house humming together but i can’t catch the song ø the wind joins in howling thru the neighborhood 15000 bees sing along ø am i a man slowly walking up an escalator going down? or am i a man slowly walking down an escalator going up? ø ø i frequently speak in absolutes i frequently stop to tie my shoes i never care enough about you ø ø i want to be a word whispered by the moonlight ø i want to be a secret carried in the treebark ø but i feel like an email that i sent to you that is now lost on the bottom of the ocean ø ø
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10. |
heelclick; mouseclick
01:38
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10. heelclick; mouseclick (1:39) click the mouse ø you click yr heels ø turn another leaf as you turn the wheel ø click and clack around the track as you pray you make it thru another year ø and we’re getting broker as we’re getting older ø spending all the time we had on mending broken shoulders ø click the mouse as you click yr heels ø turn the keys turn the automobile onto the highway and hope this road sends you as fast as yr heartbeat feels ø ø ø there’s a wrong way to go and a stoplight up ahead which will help me get it straight on which way i’ll go instead ø wherever a wrongturn slides into a deadend i wonder if i should’ve gone back instead of around again ø i guess i should make you the center of my adventures but i keep wishing that i was on falling off the edge of winter ø ø and we’re getting broker as we’re getting older spending all our calories caffeinefree dietsoda ø and we’re getting broker as we’re getting older sending all our memories to our uploaded photos ø
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11. |
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11. cold case (i am convinced) (2:19) this room is getting smaller so how are these walls getting taller and taller? ø riding a 54person tandembike into the wind ø catching bugs in my teeth when i grin ø faking my way thru a dinner party that will not end ø i am convinced! ø that past lives exist ø that future lives exist too ø that i put the brakes on our relationship cos that’s just what i do ø that you used to be an anteater ø that the fireants are still in yr belly ø that i’m turning into a bear ø i am convinced! ø ø cold case mystery in yr cold stare ø i won’t find any clues because i bet they’re not there ø ø
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12. |
**
00:25
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13. |
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13. haunted by a dead ghost, haunted by a half-dead one (1:57) back from work a nap i need it to relax ø i wish i had not just taken that ø puking up my guts from eating dreams too much ø i am sick of throwing up ø ø yer a saint or a teenager or madman ø cos you don’t belong near where we all reside along here ø you take the way that works and find it doesn’t work ø you wish you had wished for more ø as you tumble off the cliff the last thing you think is was there something i should miss? ø ø crashing down this coffin cracks ø it floats on towards the dreams you had ø you crawl inside for one last ride ø the wind blows moontides sunnyside ø saint ø teenager ø madman ø saint ø teenager ø madman ø
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14. |
flummox/reflux
02:07
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14. flummox/reflux (2:08) today i’m going to remember ø to put the toothpaste cap back on the toothpaste so it doesn’t dry out ø that everything i’ve done will be undone in my grave ø to wash the greasestains out of my nice redshirt to soak it in the sink ø the feeling of being 120 feet under the ocean safe from waves ø to bring the lunch i packed to work so i don’t have to spend $8 at giant ø that everything i’ve saved will be unsaved and remade ø ø
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15. |
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15. skipping pomegranate seeds across the lethe (1:05) where are my insides showing themselves as outsides? i will pull this air back into my chest or find how to live breathing ice ø oxygen slips thru my nets ø smokyeyes choked a smile ø ø i want to pray but i don’t want to pray ø murmur to me in me forever ø murmur to me in me forever ø
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16. |
lick forevers
01:14
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16. lick forevers (1:14) i licked the stamp even though it's selfadhesive ø i should’ve checked ø i should’ve been more legible when i wrote my return address ø i guess the worst that could happen is-i guess i’m not so sure ø still yer the only one i’d lick forevers for ø i wish i was writing back instead my heart’s in trucks ø i thought too much and didn’t write enough ø i’ll wait as pens dry up ø i’ll wait and wait until i hear yr fist knock thru my door ø still yer the only one i’d check the mailbox for ø ø yer the only one i check my mailbox for ø ø yer the only one i check my mailbox for ø ø ø
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17. |
earthquake arms
02:45
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17. earthquake arms (2:46) the faultlines run thru my life causing strife ø the faultlines run thru my life in the night ø and when we start to shake and things start to break i might jump in yr arms if that’s alright ø ø just because i don’t end up telling you anything doesn’t mean i don’t think about telling you everything ø ø back in ’95 i thought i was done but 20 years later i'm still having fun ø ø hug you with my earthquake arms ø shrugging off my faultlines ø daughters lend my sons some funds ø ø ø ø
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18. |
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18. unvex his ghost (no, no, no, no) (2:55) i bet if i tried i could change 75 into an easy 89 ø but why am i satisfied with “did i merely pass this time?” and satisfied to pass the time rather than pull outside inside ø stare stare stare til these eyes stare rewind stare me blind ø ø recite the lines ø do we have to memorize? practice makes perfection worse ø i cannot possibly rehearse ø script so long ø i toss and turn and summarize what i won’t learn ø ø i tried to trace yr ideas ontop of mine ø without a draft i finalized what i finely plagiarized ø ø but i’m satisfied to pass the time rather than pull outside inside ø ø my downfall was downright shakespearean ø as i downshifted into oblivion ø acting out the 5th act of kinglear again ø on the highway i drive in my car i commute in ø my downfall was downright shakespearean ø dragging all of my family’s dreams thru friends ø his downfall was downright shakespearean ø as he splices his eyes to the internet ø ø nothing to act out ready to back out ø ø needing an overhaul instead staying under all the covers over my head ø needing an overhaul instead staying under all my dreams ontop of my bed ø ø ø all that i rewind to plagiarize ø i’m satisfied to pass my time ø
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19. |
***
00:41
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20. |
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20. (don’t call me a) hoarder (3:11) don’t call me a hoarder just because i can’t afford a storagespace ø a whole other place ø where i keep my things locked up in boxes where they never get used ø so my house looks clean ø ø don’t call me a hoarder just cos i love cds ø just cos i read books ø that’s right i read real dang books ø don’t call me a hoarder just cos i read ø you can call me a hoarder for hoarding up life ø staying up all night and staying up all night ø you can call me a hoarder for soaking it all in until my mind is wet and heavy ø and God will wring me out ø when my time comes and my mind is heavy God will wring me out ø i know that God will wring me out ø ø ø ø ø ø ø ø ø ø ø ø ø ø ø ø ø ø ø ---> i’ve been staring at people on the bus (too much!) ø i’ve been soaking in beauty on the faces of women and men who just sit and ride on the bus ø more than you think don’t drool on their phones ø they read books or stare off or pretend they’re alone ø more than i would expect don’t blog on their phones ø they’re looking out windows and they’re not alone ø they’re staring at the river ø the potomac river ø the sun’s coming up on the potomac river ø ø the sun’s coming up on the potomac river! ø ø don’t call me a hoarder ø ø ø
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21. |
i still go to yr grave
01:24
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21. i still go to yr grave (1:24) i still go to yr grave ø
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22. |
66 on 66
01:10
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22. 66 on 66 (1:11) i know where they say i am: virginia but mostly i'm in my car driving backstroke thru the puddles of tires til i’m tired of trying of going much of anywhere ø i’m stuck going 66 on 66 ø so when i asked “where am i?” i guess the math had it fixed ø ø but i couldn’t settle ø my heart’s an escalator ø my stomach elevates skyscrapers waving byebye to my liver ø my gizzards guts and gristle go around ø my blood pumps faster ø but still i say “where am i?” and still my car is crashing ø ø
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23. |
mad lutanist
00:40
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24. |
the last moon of march
03:17
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24. the last moon of march (3:18) i felt the wind come thru the walls on the 4th floor of our house ø i heard the fullmoon sing its last icy verse at the end of march ø i saw the hare sit in the brightclear whitecold light ø i know it made a vow to the silvermoon that it would always fight ø the hare gnashed its teeth and chased the redtailed fox around ø the hare would not be stopped it would hunt the red fox down ø ø into a hole into the ground ø and what happens down stays down ø are some teeth just made to eat carrots? are some spines made to sit in chairs? ø i felt the wind come thru yr voice to slap me on my cheek ø i heard you check yr email for the 100000th time this week ø as the deer froze in the headlights it knew it was far from home ø it would never eat again in the northern virginia orchard where it was born ø ø it has a new home in the ground ø where what goes around stays around ø some teeth are made just to eat carrots ø some seasons are made just to freeze us ø ø
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25. |
unscraped scum
00:27
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26. |
ladder in the dunes
01:56
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26. ladder in the dunes (1:56) until we both float to the moon ø until there’s moss along its dunes ø and til they pulse with the nectar of the ghosts of the new ø ø until our ashes turn to sand from blinking hearts that burn from land and they spray up the moondusts and to rope off fists with frozen hands ø of the ghosts of the new ø until we both float to the moon ø ø dogs barking ø ø ø
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27. |
the shortest month
02:14
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27. the shortest month (2:19) first thing this morning i stepped into a puddle ø my socks were soaking ø i had no rebuttal ø my toes started freezing and for no good reason ø i’ve got this feeling: will february ever end? ø when can i come home? ø i’ve got this feeling: will this joke on me ever end? i've got this love card ø should i just mark on it with lead? my jaw is clenching and for no good reason ø ø i’ve got this feeling: will february ever end? ø i’ve got this trashcan should i just put it on my head? ø ø
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28. |
still i go to yr grave
01:25
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28. still i go to yr grave (1:25) when i go to yr gravesite on my way home i forget to think of you ø still i go to yr grave ø i wish that you could go there someday with me too ø then i wonder should i lie there? waiting while i lie there lying to feel true ø just to think “hey yes i’ve been there” hoping i will go there buried til my time is thru ø when i go to yr grave i sometimes can’t think of yr face ø i think of the tape with yr handwriting ø i'll sing for you ø ø i still go to yr grave ø ø ø
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maintain the light Annandale, Virginia
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