Outside in the pouring rain
the old calypso died of shame
My names is gabriella and i'm from kayenta
and it's time the animal in me spoke up
...and later
it's been a long walk a long dream
a long harvest of memory
but when you left me baby
the dinosaur tracks were still fresh
as the ink on your sign, the arrow
pointing in my direction
Monday, August 25, 2008
4th of july Draft
(on the) 4th of July
Lelen’s father lost both his legs
October 4 1968
This was a fact he knew very well
In the same way
He knew his height his age and his weight
And how many baby teeth were left in his face
Jimmy told the stories on the 4th of July
Weeks before harvest came
When the wheat touched the sky
Over a quart of whiskey
And under a sheet of fireflies
Dreaming in the Nebraskan dusk
Asleep before the dark
Out along the road in these dreams
They all took a long walk into the west
Pastoral plentitude on a cambodian breeze
But jimmy stayed behind and let lelen lead
Cresting the hill towards a bright horizon
Fireworks spiraling out of control
residue swirling left smoking
holes in their smiling faces
Out along the road in the evening echoes
Stick to young feet like gravel
Out along the road in the evening
Echoes stick to wheelchairs
Lelen pushed his father’s wheelchair
Into the bright horizon
Fireworks spiraling from the sky to the road
A make believe 4th of july
Was dancing right in front of their eyes
The echoes of the knots unraveled
Were his father’s empty shriveled thighs
Out along the road in the evening echoes
Stick to young feet like gravel
Out along the road in the evening
Echoes halt wheelchairs
And so they stopped and rested
Nearly every rise
Between hedges of corn
In the shade of the combine
And so some days he would pray
In nearly every way, in nearly every place
But this one
Because on this fourth of july
On this fourth of july
On this fourth of july
He still couldn’t find his father’s legs
On the 4th of july the 4th of july
Tommy chitwood drinks to the sky
On the 4th of july the 4th of july
He watches waking life memorialized
On the 4th of july the 4th of july
Son still drains the piss bag on father’s thigh
Lelen’s father lost both his legs
October 4 1968
This was a fact he knew very well
In the same way
He knew his height his age and his weight
And how many baby teeth were left in his face
Jimmy told the stories on the 4th of July
Weeks before harvest came
When the wheat touched the sky
Over a quart of whiskey
And under a sheet of fireflies
Dreaming in the Nebraskan dusk
Asleep before the dark
Out along the road in these dreams
They all took a long walk into the west
Pastoral plentitude on a cambodian breeze
But jimmy stayed behind and let lelen lead
Cresting the hill towards a bright horizon
Fireworks spiraling out of control
residue swirling left smoking
holes in their smiling faces
Out along the road in the evening echoes
Stick to young feet like gravel
Out along the road in the evening
Echoes stick to wheelchairs
Lelen pushed his father’s wheelchair
Into the bright horizon
Fireworks spiraling from the sky to the road
A make believe 4th of july
Was dancing right in front of their eyes
The echoes of the knots unraveled
Were his father’s empty shriveled thighs
Out along the road in the evening echoes
Stick to young feet like gravel
Out along the road in the evening
Echoes halt wheelchairs
And so they stopped and rested
Nearly every rise
Between hedges of corn
In the shade of the combine
And so some days he would pray
In nearly every way, in nearly every place
But this one
Because on this fourth of july
On this fourth of july
On this fourth of july
He still couldn’t find his father’s legs
On the 4th of july the 4th of july
Tommy chitwood drinks to the sky
On the 4th of july the 4th of july
He watches waking life memorialized
On the 4th of july the 4th of july
Son still drains the piss bag on father’s thigh
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