FABLES OF THE RECONSTRUCTION


FEELING GRAVITYS PULL

I fell asleep and read just about every paragraph.

Read the scene where gravity is pulling me around.
Peel back the mountains.
Peel back the sky.
Stomp gravity into the floor.
It's a Man Ray kind of sky.
Let me show you what I can do with it.
Time and distance are out of place here.

Step up, step up, step up -- the sky is open-armed.
When the light is mine, I felt gravity pull.

Somewhere near the end it said, "You can't do this," I said, "I can."
To shift the swaying rivers shift, oceans fall and mountains drift.
It's a Man Ray kind of sky, let me show you what I can do with it.

Step up, step up, step up -- the sky is open-armed.
When the light is mine, I felt gravity pull onto my eyes.
Holding my head straight. (Looking down...)
This is the easiest task I ever had
to do.

Reason had harnessed the tame.
Holding the sky in their arms.
Gravity
pulls
me down.

MAPS AND LEGENDS

He's not to be reached, he's to be reached.

Called the fool and the company,
On his own where he'd rather be.
Where he ought to be, he sees
what you can't see, can't you see that?

Maybe he's caught in the legend,
maybe he's caught in the mood.
Maybe these maps and legends
have been misunderstood.

Down the way the road's divided,
Paint me the places you have seen.
Those who know what I don't know
refer to the yellow, red and green

The map that you painted didn't seem real.
He just sings whatever he's seen
Point to the legend, point to the east,
Point to the yellow, red and green

He's not to be reached, anymore.

DRIVER 8

The walls are built up, stone by stone.
Fields divided one by one.
And the train conductor says, "Take a break Driver 8,
Driver 8 take a break, we been on this shift too long."

And the train conductor says, "Take a break Driver 8,
Driver 8 take a break, we can reach our destination,
But we're still a ways away."

I saw a treehouse on the outskirts of the farm.
The power lines have floaters so the airplanes won't get snagged.
Bells are ringing through the town again,
Children look up, all they hear is sky-blue bells ringing

Way to shield the hated heat.
Way to put myself to sleep.
Way to shield the hated heat.
Way to put myself, my children to sleep.

He piloted his soul in a plane like that one.
She is selling faith on the Go Tell Crusade.
Locomotive 8 Southern Crescent, hear the bells ring again.
Fields to weed, is looking thin.

LIFE AND HOW TO LIVE IT

Burn bright through the night, two pockets lead the way.
To yours to go between the wall was raised today.
To yours remain before your others and your own.
Keep these books well stocked away and take your happy home.

My carpenter's out and running about, talking to the street.
My pockets are out and running about, barking in the street
To tell what I have hidden there.

Burn bright through the night, two pockets lead the way.
Two doors to go between the wall was raised today.
Raise the walls with childish flaws, a carpenter should rest
So that when you tire of one side the other serves you best.


The hills ringing, hear the wisdom time.
Listen to the holler.
Listen to my walls within my tongue.
Can't you see you made my ears go tin?
The air quicken tension building inference suddenly.
Life and how to live it.

Raise the walls with childish flaws, a carpenter should rest,
So that when you tire of one side the other serves you best.
Read about the wisdom moth, a knock, a knock, a knock.
A secret knock, one hammer's locked, the other wisdom lost.

Listen, listen to the holler...
If we write a book it will be called, "Life and How to Live It."



OLD MAN KENSEY

Old Man Kensey wants to be a sign painter.
First he's got to learn to read.
He's gonna be a clown on TV.
Flexes his elbow, taunt and free.
(That's my folly) I believe.

Drink up the lake, Kensey's awake.
(If that's my folly) That's my mistake.

Old Man Kensey wants to be a goalie.
First he's got to learn to count.
He's gonna be a clown on a circus mount.
Letters to be signed, dropped dropped off.
Kensey's going far.

John, Bill and Ed, stand on your head.
(If that's my folly) I'm ready to go.

(If he sends the chain last summer...)

Old Man Kensey wants to be a dog catcher.
First he's got to learn to stand.
He's gonna be a clown in a marching band.
Letters to be signed, ransom, greed.
(That's my folly) I believe

Drink up the lake, John, Bill and Ed,
(If that's my folly) That's my mistake.
Kensey's awake, stand on your head.
(If that's my folly) I'm ready to go.
Drink up the lake, stand on your head.
(If that's my folly) I'm ready to go.

CAN'T GET THERE FROM HERE

When the world is a monster
Bad to swallow you whole.
Kick the clay that holds the teeth in,
Throw your trolls out the door.

If you're needing inspiration,
Philomath is where I go, by dawn.
Lawyer Jeff he knows the lowdown.
He's mighty bad to visit home.

I've been there I know the way. (I can't get there from here)
I've been there I know the way.

When your hands are feeling empty,
Stick-head jumpin off the ground, 'round.
Tris is sure to shirr the deer out.
Brother Ray can sing my song.

Hands down, Calechee bound,
Landlocked, kiss the ground,
Dirt of seven continents going round and round.
Go on ahead Mr. Citywide, hypnotized, suit and tied --
Gentlemen, testify --

If your world is a monster,
Bad to swallow you whole.
Philomath they know the lowdown,
Throw your trolls out the door.

GREEN GROW THE RUSHES

The wheelbarrow's fallen. Look at my hands.
They've found some surplus cheaper hands.
Rubbing palms to pick and choose.
Who will they choose? Here is the news.

Look at that building, look at this man.
Haloed and whitewashed.
Gone to find a cheaper hand.
He'll offer a pound, offer a pound.

Green grow the rushes, go.
The compass points the workers home.

Pay for your freedom, find another gate.
Guilt by associate.
The rushes wilted a long time ago.
Guilty as you go.

Stay off that highway! Word is it's not so safe.
The grasses that hide the greenback,
The amber waves of gain, again.
The amber waves of grain.

KOHOUTEK

Who will stand alone?

She carried ribbons, she wore them out.
Courage built a bridge, jealous tore it down.
At least it's something you left behind.
Like Kohoutek you were gone.

We sat in the garden, we stood on the porch.
Won't deny myself -- we never talked.

She wore bangles, she wore bells
On her toes and she jumped like a fish.
Like a flyin' fish, you were gone.
Like Kohoutek. Can't forget that.

Fever built a bridge, reason tore it down.
If I am going to follow -- who will stand alone?

Maybe you're not the problem. Scissors, paper, stone.
If you stand and holler, courage fools its own.

She carried ribbons, she wore them out.
Michael built a bridge, Michael tore it down.
At least it's something, you've left behind.
Like Kohoutek, you were gone.

Michael built a bridge, Michael tore it down.
If I stand and holler -- will I stand alone?


AUCTIONEER (ANOTHER ENGINE)

She didn't want to get pinned down by her prior town.

Get me to the train on time. Here, take this nickel, make a dime.
Take this penny to make into a necklace when I leave.
What is at the other end? An "I don't know," another friend,
Another wife, another morning spent.

Listen, listen to the auctioneer.
Another engine, another engine.

We never wrote the reasons that I need explained.
Some things are givens, and others get away.
This time it's for myself, you call it what you may.
Okay, we won't say goodbye; so long is so much... more.

Do I stand to bargain holler?
Listen to the barter holler.
Listen to the auctioneer.

GOOD ADVICES


When you greet a stranger look at his shoes.
Keep your money in your shoes. Put your trouble behind.
When you greet a stranger look at her hands.
Keep your money in your hands. Put your travel behind.

Who are you going to call for? What do you have to say?
Keep your hat on your head. Home is a long way away.
At the end of the day I'll forget your name.
I'd like it here if I could leave and see you from a long way away.

When you greet a stranger look at her shoes.
Keep you memories in your shoes. Put your travel behind.
Who are you going to call for? What do you have to say?
Keep your hat on your head. Home is a long way away.

At the end of the day when there are no friends,
When there are no lovers, who are you going to call for?
What do you have to change?

A familiar face, a foreign place. I forget your name.
I'd like it here if I could leave and see you from a long way away.
Who are you going to call for, what do you have to say?
Keep your hat on your head. Home is a long way away.

WENDELL GEE


That's when Wendell Gee
takes a tug upon the string
that held the line of trees
behind the house he lived in.
He was reared to give respect
but somewhere down the line he chose
to whistle as the wind blows     (Gonna miss you, boy...)
And listen as the wind blows with me.

He had a dream one night
that the tree had lost its middle,
so he built a trunk of chicken wire
to try to hold it up.
But the wire, the wire turned to lizard skin,
and when he climbed inside
there wasn't even time to say      (Gonna miss you, boy...)
goodbye to Wendell Gee.
So whistle as the wind blows,
and listen as the wind blows with me.

If the wind were colors
And if the air could speak,
Then whistle as the wind blows,
Whistle as the wind blows.