Remember last summer…seems oh so very long ago…when Charlie Zero and I put out some music and poetry as Sleep Sigil? Well, we’re doing it again. A new record called Cult of Code will be out soon. How soon? Pretty soon. 🙂 On this Thanksgiving, I’d like to give thanks for mad collaborations with good friends, for maintaining some sanity by creating things, for long-term readers, and for warm slippers on chilly mornings.
poem
The Counter of Years
I only sleep when the moon’s full I need a light in the dark sky I’m all alone in this room for two I wish I’d never said goodbye I only sleep when the moon’s full I need a light in the dark sky I only cry when I’m breathing I need to know that it’s all right
True vampires
do not fear the sun
True vampires
fear running water
creatures undying
from thirst
I am not a true vampire
because I fear nothing
except the sounds of life:
my heartbeat beat beating
thick blood that pulses against the walls of aging veins carrying to everything the air I come from and am becoming
I have seen true vampires
hesitating, panting, pacing along the river quays
calling out to family and friends
forever stuck in place
until the river changes course
or exhausts itself
into a winding, weaving trail of ash and dust
I have seen true vampires
And I fear nothing except the sounds of life
Other Mild Skin Conditions
I lie awake at night scratching my chest until I hit battered rib I believe there is a secret behind my solar plexus my fingernails know how to find it after the sun goes down It is a curious thing, to be alive in the dark, itching, forever itching, searching for some treasure buried beyond white wet bone
Haiku for a Cyclical
<--to thoughts about time: how it moves, how it loops, how it leads one back-->
Buoyancy
Floating down The River of Darkness Floating down The River of Night Floating down The River of Nothing Got a feeling Something ain’t right Floating down The River of Sorrow Floating down The River Gone Black Floating down The River of Goodbyes Don’t know when I’ll be floating back
2 Haiku for Anti-Common Sense
An anti-vaccine conspiracy is leading the anti- to mask up Human behavior makes no sense, driven by fear; more rare, by love
Remind Me
In the early hours, I cry
Take shallow breaths
Fight nausea
Forget I am a man
Forget I am responsible
Forget I am
Exactly what I said I was
Forgetful
Forgetting
Forgotten
Liquor Run
It’s time to go on a liquor run
Time to go on a liquor run, hun
It’s time to go on a liquor run
Time to go on a liquor run, hun
Well it’s Friday night and I just clocked out
Pay-check in my hand so you know what I’m about
Throw the truck in reverse then I throw it to first
Peelin’ out the parking lot ‘cause I gotta quench my thirst
It’s time to go on a liquor run
Time to go on a liquor run, hun
Time to go on a liquor run
Time to go on a liquor run, hun
Now I been out in the field all day
and you been cleaning your life away
What we both need is couple of drinks
To whet our whistles - tell me whaddayou think?
What’s that you’re saying?
The cabinet’s dry?
There ain’t no bourbon and there ain’t no rye?
There ain’t no vodka and there ain’t no beer?
Well what the hell are we doing just standing here?
It’s time to go on a liquor run
Time to go on a liquor run, hun
Time to go on a liquor run
Time to go on a liquor run, hun
Now the liquor store man he knows me well
Calls me Mister when he makes that sell
Got a big box ready to lock and load
With bottle after bottle of that liquid gold
It’s time to go on a liquor run
Time to go on a liquor run, hun
Time to go on a liquor run
Time to go on a liquor run, hun
Didja get that whiskey?
You bet!
Didja get that rum?
I didn’t forget!
Didja get tequila?
¡Sí, Sí, Sí!
A bottle of scotch?
Oh yes indeed!
Didja grab some beer?
A case or two!
What about the wine?
Some from me, some for you!
Didja get some gin?
Of course, I did!
Well then get on home and let’s pop them lids!
Let’s drink until we can’t drink no more!
Let’s dance on the couches and sleep on the floor!
Let’s stir up shit like pigs in pen!
Let’s get up tomorrow and do it all again!
When it’s time to go on a liquor run
Time to go on a liquor run, hun
Time to go on a liquor run
Time to go on a liquor run, hun
To Retire at Peace
You once were a body
of dirt and tiny roots,
grub worms and cicadas.
Sometime in the night
you turned to grey stone
and started to question
the idea of mobility.
You forgot that erosion
is a rock’s sure-fire ticket
to a beachside retreat
someplace nice and warm.
It took only 10,
000 years and 1,
000,000,000 raindrops
to remind you.
Now you enjoy
frozen piña coladas
in a body of light,
a body prone to catch fire
given prolonged exposure,
a body prone to move faster
than anything else you’ve known.
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