1. |
Riverbed
04:34
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We ignored the signs
Till the well was dry
Till our bellies groaned
And the gardens died
Now there’s nothing to decide
No shapes to find
In the piss-colored clouds
Drifting through the sky
We cast our dead into the riverbed
We cast our dead into the riverbed
Etch all we know into the hunger stones
Before the cursed wind rends bare our bones
No words remain
But this dire tale
For the savage kin
Who creep atop the shale
And the flies who still thrive
Within our hollow shells
To their children who are building
Nests inside our mouths
We cast our dead into the riverbed
We cast our dead into the riverbed
Etch all we know into the hunger stones
Before the wind rends bare our brittle bones
We cast our dead into the riverbed
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2. |
She Surrounds You
04:57
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She’s the paint peeling off
Of the walls of the house you were raised in
She’s the weeds in the spring
Shooting up through the cracks in the pavement
She’s the cloud of flies
Gathering on the dead dogs in the riverbed
She’s the water that carved out the grave where they lay
Before turning to steam in the stifling August heat
She first spoke to you
Through a sliver of moon over thistle fields
Then the shimmering isles
Of dirt caked on the windshield
Now her siren song resonates
In the rust blooms on the sewer grates
Her image in bonfire cinders agleam
Before blowing away through the primitive star-crossed streets
She surrounds you now
She seeps between the seams
The ink stains on the page
The foam atop the stream
She surrounds you now
The rattle in the leaves
The space behind the walls
The colors in your dreams
She surrounds you now
She surrounds you now
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3. |
January
02:42
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The storm of the century breaks
The highway disintegrates
Nothing we can do but wait
For the rain to abate
We drift along a forest lake
With all the cars that hydroplaned
And the bugs that could not escape
Laying eggs in the frames
What we’d give for a fire to dry our boots
A hearth to hang them up and set down roots
In the soft January light
Love is something more implied
Less a word you say outright
And leave out overnight
It surrounds you like the morning fog
Rolling off a melting pond
Where it flows between your skin and clothes
And you know, you just know
There won’t be time enough to heal all wounds
Nor fortune great enough to gild our bones
But the hum of our flesh is real
And all that is love is alive
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4. |
June
04:10
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Poppy crowns in bloom
Overflowing from the sewer grates
Turned up toward the moon
Crimson columns rise and penetrate
Urban heat cocoons
Hatching diamond dreams of paradise
Through the haze of June
Visions spill into our minds
A new world is born
In the corpse of the old
A new god is made
From the bones of the old
Churches without rooves
Totems anchored to the pavement
Crows perch in the pews
Cracking walnuts on the pulpit
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5. |
Greener Gold
03:37
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Saturn and his sons
Rise out of the earth
Dream perfect shapes
In the void of space
But the stars as they are
Fuse iron and lead
And don't disappear
When you turn your head
Will you take us back tonight?
Angel of Gnon, in red and white
Will you take us back tonight?
To that holy place
Where a greener gold remains
In the barrens of Nod
They cursed your name
But their voices break
And their magic wanes
In flowing robes
Of hide and leaves
You will claim your throne
With a sword of flames
Will you take us back tonight?
Angel of Gnon, in blue and bronze
Will you take us back tonight?
To that holy place
Where a greener gold remains
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6. |
Lower Heaven
03:27
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When the poor folks die
They stick pennies in their eyes
Cause even in the afterlife
You've got to pay your way
When we close our eyes
We can imagine
Copper hydrant streets of lower heaven
Every dog is stray
Every wing is frayed on thrift store angels
We drink cheap champagne
Cast our lots and pray
From the shadow of the mountain
That they might finally let us in
And if we're turned away we will reach out
With our blistered hands and lower heaven
Smash the pearly gates
With axes and spades
And paint it crimson
The color of the first sin
When the poor folks die
They take pennies from their eyes
And cast them in the River Lethe
Our debts have all been paid
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Novus spero San Diego, California
Gospel of the final human century.
San Diego, CA / Hemet, CA / Flagstaff, AZ
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