the days, the dates, the saints, the snakes.

it's a quiet morning, already hot enough in the streets to lift the fog.
my head is thick and groggy, a dull beating above my right eye.
my vision struggles to focus, maybe something is growing inside my head.
slowly decaying behind my eyes, this isn't knowledge that gains stature.

it's a long month, already five/sixths vanished with nothing to show.
my days have passed easily, filled with time and docks and hands held.
there have been a few long days, filled with important men in well cut suits.
the way has now been paved, for me to join their ranks with a silk-tie noose around my neck.

it's a lightning bolt year, months slipping off the books like rainwater in the gutters.
my calendar turning over and over, with accomplishment and frustration barely noticed.
soon it will be half-way gone, the achievements resting as headstones in my littered past.
soon it will be half-way started, dreams tied to aspirations making concrete blocks to build.

we are always building, always creating.
we are always capturing, taking hostage our own memories.
what are we so desperately afraid of?
that we will die all alone, that are scrapbooks won't find a good will home.
why all of this preservation?
missing lives behind camera shutters, losing time arranging photo albums.

all so we won't forget.
all so we can recall.
the days, the dates, the saints, the snakes, and put them in their piles.


shhhhh! listen to:
"Moab" - Conor Oberst (Conor Oberst)
"Snake Hill" - Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band (Outer South)
"Worldwide" - Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band (Outer South)
"Roosevelt Room" - Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band (Outer South)
"Difference Is Time" - Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band (Outer South)
"Baron" - Johnny Cash (Baron)
"City of New Orleans" - Johnny Cash (Destination Victoria Station)
"25 Minutes to Go" - Johnny Cash (Live at Folsom Prison)
"Bad Moon Rising" - Creedence Clearwater Revival (Collection)
"Travelin' Band" - Creedence Clearwater Revival (Collection)