Pharoahs Ain't Shit

the Pharoahs are shitting themselves now
shut down the networks and they can't call the aliens for help
the kids that built the Pyramids are listening to rock'n'roll
the kids threw up the honey beer and slipped into hoodies
stepped out onto asphalt to answer the Sphynx's riddle
with rocks
and fire
and bodies
the kids aren't bowing to the whip
the kids are fucking shit up
about to prove there's no such thing as immortality
the kids are ripping brains and guts out of the Great Corpse
hoping to stuff flowers and spices in their place
the kids are staying up all night, breaking curfew
about to bury a ruler
with no more ritual than clapping hands
and dancing feet


...
just a brief, far-away perspective on the ruckus in Egypt.
-andy

Train Poems

1.
The thing i hate about the train is that the train has to stop
sometimes
to let another train pass
and i tell you the other train is always longer than Satan's Pecker
i tell you that other fucker never seems to end
seems like it's just a big ring around the world
spinning because the earth is nervous and fucking with it
it's worse at night because you can't see it
you just hate it
unable to give it a dirty look

2.
the thing i love about the train is that the train doesn't leave
the ground
you can move around in the train
you can treat your legs like you appreciate them
and want them to come out of this okay
and if it's a full moon
you can follow that guy through the night
listening to The Mountain Goats
or Willie Nelson
or Miles Davis
and the morning will come rushing at you
like it's happy as a puppy to see you
it missed you and it's time to enjoy
each other's company.

3.
if it's not a full moon, though, all you have is black
and maybe some little red
or orange lights here and there
and they aren't enough to tide you over until the sun
shoves the day at you
so you should probably bring a flask
that's another thing i love about the train
you can drink just about anywhere
if you're cool about it
and aren't some kinda asshole
to the conductor

4.
they yell at you if you try to smoke
at a stop that ain't designated for it
if you ask them to curb the hostility
they pull out the scalpels
and even though you woke up
the night before just in time
to see that mine or factory or whatever it was
lit up like Dali's x-mas tree
like frozen fireflies
you suddenly feel like there's no magic in the world
none at all
it's all just ugly
but we lie to ourselves
you tell yourself it's beautiful
because otherwise you'd lay down on the tracks
or you'd smoke a cigarette anyway

5.
When the train pulls in
when it arrives, there's no long walk
no legions of uniforms wrinkling scowls
no crowds of the mob, restless and fitful
no painted zones on a curb or a wheel of belongings
no angry horns or voices of gods all "Don't Do That."
just a few strangers hugging
just a little building that gave up its grand assumptions
and smiled to be itself.
When it arrives, you arrive, and there's just the sky and the
"Hey. Welcome."


...
this is a small series about fighting vampires in the 13th century riding on trains.
-andy

Those Songs

That Golden Birds song came on the ipod
the one that was always about her
and that's what twisted off the bottlecaps
that's what said "leave the shot glasses on the shelf,
let's kiss a groove. let's swig.
let's hear that splash of amber slap back against the bottom."
that's what got me going
and before i knew it, the fucker hit me
with that Mountain Goats song
the one that was never about anybody
but me
and the guy who ain't around anymore
and that's what turned the key in the car
that's what opened the garage door
that's what put me on the freeway
and in the car was just
that Weakerthans album
the one about my entire goddamn life
hesitant start to likely finish
and that's what saved my life.

and this?
this one ain't about anything
except maybe some music that
i wish i'd heard when i was much younger
before the whiskey
before the pictures of people who would leave
paraded through computer screens
back before the asshole boogeymen got driver's licenses
and checking accounts
and Christian names.
this one ain't about shit
but those songs
i just wanna hear those songs again and forever


...
should be painfully obvious what this one's about.
-andy