1. |
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the game is set
the pawns lined up in rows
each move is met
and tension squarely grows
take the queen
and to your hope you’ll cling
the unfolding scene:
the dethroning of a king
when the black rook comes around,
no knights to guard the door
your highness losing ground
when the black rook comes around
check and mate
you’ve nowhere else to go
seal your fate
pale king, white as snow
castle walls
built up out of air
the king will fall
you haven’t got a prayer
when the black rook comes around,
no knights to guard the door
your highness losing ground
when the black rook comes around
when the black rook comes around.
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2. |
aeroelastic flutter
01:36
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you do nothing
to calm my fear of falling,
watching you twist and turn the night away;
restless bodies
trapped beneath sheets,
fighting for sleep.
my heart flexes the same way.
aeroelastic flutter eyelashes,
heart strings suspended,
snapping fingers against fingers.
garters for girders,
a plummet of pavement,
rattle them bones.
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3. |
as you were
02:07
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winter weather worn
a bushel of brambles tangled
in your fur fully mangled;
oh, look what the cat dragged in.
the leap day hare
curled cozy against the cold,
slow thawing of frozen bones,
a live simmering rabbit stew.
the long winter melts away,
leaves a life fully renewed
card checked in the back pocket
of the books you long loved,
resting on the table laid.
you were late for tea again, my friend.
dormice snore tiny storms,
tucked safely around the cup
radiating small warmth,
black tea and citrus,
press porcelain against your lips.
no, i never wanted to be a tea cup
quite as much as in this moment.
the deception of top hats;
you seem taller than before
somehow…
but surely the same height as you always were.
as you were,
as you wish.
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4. |
winterskins and phantoms
04:11
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the ice floes in my veins
lodged upon the shore.
the howling wind surrounds me,
the souls who came before.
ghosts tied to my fingers,
haunting all i touch.
the white blinds all around me,
with each ghastly gust.
which ghost is worse?
which ghost is worse?
the auroras overhead,
set the sky aglow,
soft sheets of shifting colors,
reflected on the snow.
but the show does end and the light fades fast,
the darkness spreads out thick,
swallowed in obscurity,
swirling oil slick.
you dive below.
you dive below.
the gulls hover effortlessly,
as though strung from strings.
the insulated isolation
from all other living things.
the midnight winter spirits cry,
their wails freeze completely.
their weeping would not chill me,
if they sang half as sweetly
as you,
the night of the crescent moon,
songs sung to toes,
downturned eyes, half closed.
i will not forget you,
and the way you look tonight
and my heart beats so
that i can hardly speak right.
no, you’ll never be more alone
than you are right here.
you’ll never be more alone
than you are right now.
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5. |
what still remains
03:08
|
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you came and you saw and you conquered
but what do you have to show for yourself?
a pocket of holes and nowhere else to go
and nothing to show for yourself.
after all you gave,
to win this game,
what still remains?
(i mean, other than me.)
you gave it your all and you came out on top,
but who’s gonna catch you if you fall?
you cut your safety and threw it to me,
is what you paid worth what you got?
after all you gave
to win this game
what still remains?
(i mean, other than me.)
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6. |
drowning on land
01:45
|
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all that i am,
am i anything
worth keeping as secret
when morning comes
crawling through the window?
pull the shade,
close the sun out again
til it starts to rain
and the sound echoes loud
in the empty space.
the air hangs heavy in lungs
the sensation of drowning on land.
all that i am,
am i anything
worth keeping as secret
from you?
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7. |
solitary blue
02:10
|
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i woke up late today,
hungover and cold.
i’d like to go away
this shit is getting old
i always try for first,
but lately come in last,
feeling slightly cursed,
have the good things all gone past?
it’s hard to see the light
when everything goes wrong,
but i fight the good fight
even when i’m not strong.
and sure, it’s just a phase,
and things, they will get better,
this lingering malaise
can’t linger here forever.
and so, for now, it’s fine,
and i’ll keep smiling through,
and drink a bit more wine,
until i am imbued.
this quiet, lonely time,
i sit and think of you,
and it is not a crime,
it’s just a solitary blue
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8. |
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i’ll glow only for you,
if you’ll glow only for me.
you’ll light the dark seas at night
and guide this boat right back to home.
your eyes will full moon at me,
and my heart will high tide for you
i won’t fear drowning those days,
with you, i always feel safe.
the moon, earth, sun all in line,
your orbit will coincide with mine.
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9. |
peony, peony
01:38
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peony, peony,
bud wrapped so tightly,
hiding your face needing more time to grow.
ohhhhhh
peony, peony,
blooming so suddenly,
white faces blush when your pale pink petticoats show.
ohhhhhh
peony, peony,
ants march with dignity,
carrying flags down the street so we all know.
ohhhhhh
peony, peony,
petals fall daintly,
cover the ground at your feet in your own snow.
ohhhhhh
peony, peony,
body lays lazily,
carried by ants to rest somewhere where we don’t know.
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10. |
nino quincampoix
01:26
|
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11. |
the black lodge
01:55
|
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the hesitance of fluorescence
still flickers in uncertainty,
even when the bulb is warm.
like cherry pie
and coffee,
black as midnight on a moonless night,
black as midnight on a moonless night.
you’ll find me washed ashore, wrapped in plastic,
with letters jammed beneath my fingernails
for you to decode.
the scent of burnt motor oil,
and tall douglas firs,
and fear.
your doppelganger
runs circles round you here.
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12. |
fragmentalism
01:49
|
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you know, i don’t understand why
you only photograph mirrors;
reflecting fragments of the world for me,
as though the whole picture was too lovely.
you know, i don’t understand why
you only sing metered measures;
warbling fragments of the world for me,
as though the whole song was too lovely.
you know, i can understand why
you’re all i want to see
and you’re all i want to hear,
so could this be?
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13. |
Relish with a capital R
02:09
|
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and suddenly,
everything,
absolutely everything
was there.
i’m alive,
and everyone’s alive,
but what’s the use
when they’re more alive than me?
the first thing you learn in life is you’re a fool,
and the last thing you learn in life is you’re the same fool.
a crazy creature with a head full of carnival spangles.
and time is so strange
and life is twice as strange;
the cogs miss,
the wheels turn.
and lives interlace too early,
or too late.
all i know is i feel good going to bed nights.
that’s a happy ending once a day.
but what makes the night?
shadows crawling out under from five billion trees.
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14. |
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oh no elephant, elephant fell down
oh no elephant on the floor
oh no elephant, elephant fell down
oh no elephant on the floor
etc….
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15. |
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16. |
little pod lullabye
01:58
|
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little vanilla vine
growing in the summertime
how are you doing today?
little vanilla vine
glowing green in the sunshine
how are you doing today?
you grow all you can
and when summer’s gone
you’ll be so nicely tan
you grow all you can
and when summer’s gone
they’ll pluck you from the plant
and they pull you apart
and take your seeds
and place them in a jar
and they pull you apart
and take your seeds
but never take your heart,
they make take your seeds
but never take your heart.
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17. |
and maybe i won't
02:22
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well i broke free from my cage today
wanted to go wandering far away
so maybe i’ll see you, and maybe i won’t.
the grass is always greener on the outside, when you’re outside
so i’ll roam through the wild for a while, for a long while
and maybe i’ll see you, and maybe i won’t.
i’ll find someone’s garden from which to eat
and a patch of sweet clover on which to sleep
and maybe i’ll see you, and maybe i won’t.
but the seasons change and the weather gets cold
and fending for yourself, it always gets old
so i think that i’ll come home, don’t think that i won’t.
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swarbles Maine
The musical endeavors of one Maria Gocze, Maine dwelling friend of winged things, who sang before she spoke.
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