New Moon

I held up my new gun in the family photo

They wouldn’t let me shoot it from the condo

At the beach in Late September, we were still begging for the summer to splinter

The summer to splinter

I’m not a boy, but, not quite a man yet

I’m learning everything as soon as I can forget

Screen door slams and my Dad comes runnin'

Says, “you can’t shoot birds You ain’t puttin’ in the oven.”

I like the guys in my grandpa’s movies

The one’s that kill the other guys that look like Newsies

“I’ll be a hero”-- That’s what I’m thinking

But when my folks start screaming I just sit there blinking

I just sit there blinking

I’m not a boy, but, I’ll be a man soon

Maybe by August or, hell even late June

Maybe tonight by the water

Me and my sister and our neighbor’s daughter

Will find some matches, some Double Bubble

Turn this condo into dust and rubble

Strawberry kidsmoke, the smell of asphalt,

Burn the cinderblocks, No, we’ll never get caught.

We’ll never get caught.

For the Trees

I’ve seen funny things

Some things you can’t conceive

Just like elephants and dolphins

Driving limousines

They rear their motors out my window

Wake me up at night

But when I get up to go looking

I give myself a fright

Let’s get out of my head

Let’s go down to the beach

Search for some banana fish

I told you six but I really saw three

I’m spitting up saltwater and seaweed, for everyone to see

Let the waves knock the shit out of me

Bop bop, bop bop, bop

Everywhere I look, they’re coming after me

You said, “Baby, that sounds crazy.”

And I fucking agree!

I keep on driving straight,

As straight as straight can be,

But I’m headed for the trees

Bop bop, bop bop, bop

Bobby

Your daddy worked for the TVA

Until they stopped sending home his pay

But you can’t leave, Bobby,

You were bout to make state

I’ll put those bastards in their graves

My hands twitch, Bobby, when I see you in class

I leave dewy imprints on the plastic maps

Tongs and beakers

Mean broken glass

But you keep walking on past

You keep on walking on past

News traveled quick, you never got the chance

Before the last home game or Sadie Hawkins dance

To notice the boy

In the corduroy pants

Who screamed your name in the stands

If I blamed you, Bobby, it’s cause it felt so plain

How my heart thumped with a dull, dull ache

But the girls kept clapping

And the boys kept stomping

Could you hear my voice through the rain?

Bobby, I think I love you

Foam fingers wrapped in plastic

Peanut shells falling under the rafters

I’m betting on sweet thereafter

Bobby, I think I love you

Bedside Manner

Don’t you have bedside manner?

It’s the third time you’ve come by this week.

You sink into an armchair

Set your things by the armoire and speak.

You don’t turn off the TV,

You don’t listen to me breathe,

But that’s alright.

I can’t help but notice

My shape in the darks of the screen.

Or the early-morning joggers

Finding bodies lying in the street.

We don’t need to play pretend,

Every morning something ends

Again, again.

I’m pretty sure you think you already know

What you don’t

No, you don’t.

I was gone in an instant

Now I know what they had meant–

My body ain’t a temple

It's just more of a sacrament.

I knew exactly what went wrong

I did it all along

You know I did.

You can take the lampshades

The rug, and the guest room duvet.

Build yourself a fortress

Protect the fact that you came.

I’m not casting any blame

We both know it was too late,

I can’t complain.

I’m pretty sure you think

You already know

And I’m not gone forever

Just so you know

But you don’t.

No, you don’t.

Dead Birds

Somethin made me go downstairs

Wish I didn’t cuz what I found there

Was a thicket of claws and hair

Didn’t need to know she didn’t get hurt

My cat’s a killer in a cute hair shirt

At least I know that I’m safe from birds

Been sleeping with my shades undrawn

Cause when I fall asleep it don’t take long

To think I hear a car alarm

Run to the window and I see I’m wrong

I used to like it when you made me cry

When I slept I slept like a child

Now that you’re gone the days are alright

But the light seems to burn too bright

I took a walk and I took it downtown

The River made such a bloody sound

Couldn’t hear myself talking out loud so I

Took a walk and I turned around

I used to like it when you made me cry

Cause when I woke up and I looked at the sky

I looked at with the love of a child and I

Didn’t feel the days go by.

When I took another peek downstairs

Boy, I didn’t find nothing there

Every surface was shining bare.

Holler

Goin’ down to that backwoods holler,

Good people gonna say my name.

If they don’t I’ll get to talkin’,

Make friends in the good ol’ way,

Make friends the good old way

Make friends in the gold ol way

Wake up and I have my coffee,

Fry an egg and work the day away.

Drive back the same way I started,

At least it don’t cost a man to pray.

I don’t pay no mind to the mission.

Frankly, I just do what they say.

Ain’t like I got much of an option,

Just try to keep my head on straight.

Don’t cry like I’ve been talkin’

Bout a secret that you don’t know.

Way back where the wildflowers blossomed,

I showed you once, then I let it grow.

Beat back all the bad time bluesin’

Keep your voice way down low.

Tonight when we get to drinkin,

Best bet we’ll get our story told.

Goin' down to that backwoods holler

Hell, this time I think I’ll stay

If I don’t I’ll just keep singin’ til

These good people gonna know my name

Good people gonna know my name,

Good people gonna know my name

Foxholes

You took me to a Christmas party

It went to shit before it even started

You wanted to leave but we didn’t

So I got high in their kitchen

You said you hate these kind of mixers

I asked what you said about the liquor

You almost smiled but you didn’t

I didn’t really take it as an insult

From the corner I can watch you dancing

Goddamn it, it still makes my heart spin

You didn’t ask me to join but I did, though

I move like bricks and you fall like snow

I’d honestly rather be bludgeoned

Than have another conversation with an old friend

We shouldn’t have left but we did, so

We probably won’t make the photo

You asked me on the way home

If knew much about microbes

When I tried to leave I couldn’t

You make me laugh when no one else is looking

I’m just trying not to get car sick

Mismeasured my alchemy of toxins

I feel like an ass, but you say I shouldn’t

Can’t believe you’re not tired of my shit

I’ll make breakfast in the morning

I’ll try harder to be a better boyfriend

I love you now more than ever

I’ve loved you more than I have ever

I’ll try to let this be simple

Stop talking my way out of the foxholes

I thought living was a fast mistake

But we could be good anyway?

Thrillville

You saw something in the dark

Out by the old amusement park

Thrillville, USA is rusted over

With neon spray paint

You pulled the leash too hard

Went running through the steel graveyard

And I knew right then that from now on

It’d be different

Cuz now your tail don’t wag at all

Your sniffing over by the Skee-Ball

And if what I think ain’t breathin’ ain’t there at all

Well, I won’t know who to call

I asked him if he felt okay

Cause it never hurts to ask anyway

He didn’t say nothin’

Fireflies, well, they just keep buzzin’

So I felt round for his keys

In the lot, I found his Camry

When I dragged him to the light, well,

He sure didn’t look right.

But in the car, he blinked his eyes

Said, “put my brother on the line,

He don’t need to speak to me,

Just tell him that I’m fine

Cause I’m not gonna die

No, I’m not gonna die,

I’ve been a bad boy, but I’ll be alright,

No, I’m not gonna die.”

If I could do it again, maybe I wouldn’t run

Left the keys in the ignition and I let it hum

I’ll stand in front of God when it’s my turn

And show him everything ravaged, and everything burned

Everything ravaged, and everything burned,

Everything ravaged, and everything burned.

Back In Town

Well I’m not drunk

But I’ve been drinking

And I’m not stoned

But I’ve been on the brink of

Passing out in the front porch morning

Talkin round til the leaves all touch the ground

I don’t know when

The party got started

But I got a new lawyer and a Carter Starter

I’ll be a good time til My eyes get heavy

And I’d never tell god anything but the time

I’ll be here in

The early morning

Until my starts dog barking and the crows all scurry

A landline call from the second coming said:

the Bama Boys Choir is back in town

Phantoms

When we get home

Let’s both black out

And dig through the boxes at your

uncle’s house

Play show and tell

with what we found

Chains and lockets and

Ropes and gags

A suit from Spain

And a body bag

If you think about really

It’s not all so sad

When we get home

I hope we meet

At that taco shop

Where they pay you to drink

We’ll throw rocks at phantoms and

dodge cars in the street

Why would you quit

If it’s all you think about

We’re filling balloons

And passing them out

Cotton candy static

Doesn’t mean you don’t hear the sound

In a month or two

We’ll head back north

To these college towns

And I won’t hear a noise

You’ll discover moderation like

I’ll study more

If every thing

that happens to me

Is predetermined

It’s destiny

I’ll try not to think about it

hopefully