The town I live in is a wilderness and I’m filling a pretty weird niche. I’ve got no reason to be here, but we all must exist. Purpose is like a pack of wolves and you’ve got to give them something so I sprinkle seeds by the front step. I doubt they’ll grow given the pavement, and I know this won’t last. In the back of my mind I am civilized and I forget this too fast. Wait up all night for sunrise, wait out the winter for springtime. There’s a garden snake by the front step waiting for its scales to thaw. Waiting for the next big die-out, waiting for my clothes to dry out. Reach my fingers in my pocket for an aluminum foil ball, and I know this won’t last. In the back of my mind I am civilized and I know how I should react when there’s a world pent-up squirming right in front of me. I want to reach out but I’m scared. What could it it do to me? And the stars look wild tonight, don’t they, my queen, so dark and distant, clothed in mystery. City-living is strangers passing by the window, passing by the stores and coffee shops, a hundred ways to pray. If they say it’s a cool town, they just mean it has good food, makes you feel like a predator with a hundred ways to prey. It won’t always be this way. Amazon or the startup it bought could take even this away, but not you, my queen, my civility, my green ferns in the forest, my big red oak tree. My civility, rooted and buried, I will turn to you naked and simple, clothed in mystery.
credits
from You Were Overwhelmed,
released February 6, 2020
Violins performed by Lilly Innella and Nikki Billiri. Cello performed by Drew Cunningham.
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