vampire deer - ash wednesday

May 30, 2013 5:41 PM

song 11 and the end - a weird droney rememberance

sunrise
you know the fix is in so you stumble to the wake
the ground is rich in ashes
rub them on your forehead, go forth to wilderness
to the river
just to be alone and cry if you want to
remembering the altar
jere made to hold her mother's ashes and painted like moonflowers
like a phoenix hummingbird
we will rise again to hover over everything we loved
but it's time to remember
the things we lost and what we might find in wandering
maybe it's just part of growing up
friendly old men with crisp suits, mr de vos, mr meijer
who seem very concerned
about the future of the college, the educational prospectus
they smile and nod
they've got their minds made up that a million would be good
for a new fieldhouse
and coincidentely, the budget of this college is a million
they sympathesize
and smile knowing that they've already made themselves the deal
whacha gonna do?
at the end of the night, whacha gonna do
gonna take some ashes
gonna wear them in the wilderness and repent this crazy world
the fix is in
no, buddy, i am telling you the fix is damn well in
they're going to sieve
the marchers from the hopeful, the bullets from the duds
you can choose
to join with the uniforms or stand out in the mist
piss in a cup
prove your loyalty to keeping straight and cold
they're sorting us out
the elect will go to rivertown, the losers where they can
well, young man
they couldn't win that war in nam so they'll win a war at home
if you could see
this campus 30 years from now - the once fascist architecture
now a mess of mottled stone
buildings put just damn near everywhere with no damn sense of place
phony digital campanile, so ugly
and that library still looking like a world war 3 bunker
it's nothing to compare it to
the random brick arrangements that are named after everyone
until they ran out of names
and labeled them a b c and d, just to call them something
growing old's so strange
you get to the point where you don't want to understand
this strange new world
full of people who aren't there because they're talking on their phones
but it's better than being
one of those friends you knew who never made it through
there are bodies everywhere
in this wilderness you're going to learn to call your home
there are ghosts everywhere
in this emptiness you're going to call your city
save yourself some ashes
and remember from your birth - the fix has always been in
rub the ashes on your head
learn to love the wilderness, learn to love the ghosts
this song and like a rolling stone
just two bookends in a life that was just lukewarm
remember the day
the war ended and jeanne rang out the bell
once for each year
once for each million of tears, drops of blood
i don't think she ever learned
the world's been one long holocaust since the books were written
i don't know what to say
i'm old and have no wisdom only ashes to keep
i'm in this wilderness
i have ashes on my forehead and trouble on my mind
the fix is in
ashes ashes ashes, all fall down
the fix is in
wear your ashes with what love you can find



posted by pyramid termite 1 user marked this as a favorite

« Older Nineteen Thousand Sunsets   |   Kingdom of Heaven Newer »

You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments