Party Pictures (2012)

1. Groceries

Shaking little shoulder blades,
Press them up against the bricks.
These are ambush roofs
And you, well, you’re a kid.

You get pelted by rain,
Your soaking wet hair,
Starts to curl, while your grocery bag tears.

You just stare off at the mess you’ve made.
Your dented little pantry and a long walk home
To a half awake family.

You’ll get pelted by rain,
Your soaking wet hair,
Starts to curl and you say you don’t care.

You say you don’t care.

2. Made It Home

So you made it home.
You practically fell through the front door
Then ricocheted your way upstairs
Just to fumble with your keys.

But you used to be so sweet.
Now you’re passing out on me.

Let’s go home.
I can’t take St. Mark’s any more.
We’ll ricochet the way uptown.
I’ll put you to bed and stay on the couch.

Oh you used to be so sweet.
Now you’re passing out on me.

3. Exile And The Kingdome

Now the dust has settled on the stairs
You’re the only thing that’s left moving in the whole house.
You pace around, you trench out the hardwood floor
Until you make it through the basement ceiling aching.

You count all of the ways
That you can still come up with just to kill time till you sleep.
If you could concentrate on good old days
You wouldn’t have to count the sinking ceiling stains.

But it’s a stadium or a hardware store.
It’s the photo that you don’t remember.
Is it your wife or a woman before?
These are delicate, delicate errors.

4. Cool-Legged

Cool-legged girls: with their toes in the lake,
Sunburned since yesterday,
And sneaking something in water bottles.

Just let me know when you make it.
You can go swimming when you’re here.
And I’ll wrap you up in colors, my dear.

But I’ll wait in the water.
You know I’ll tire out so soon
So when I spot you on the shore,
I’ll come collapse right next to you.

Cool legged girls: sweat stains on the smalls of their backs,
Tiptoeing over broken glass,
And emptying water bottles.

So let me know whenever you make it home
Cause I’ll still wish you were here–
Wrapped up in colors, my dear.

But I’ll wait in the water.
You know I’ll tire out so soon
So when I spot you on the shore,
I’ll come collapse right next to you.

5. Dirty Denominators

In the debris of the day I thought that I thought about you
While the out of town drunks just fluttered around the avenues.
But I was homesick, I went home sick
And wound up asleep in the doorway all night again.

I should just stay in.

Morning eyelashes separate so slowly
For a view from the carpet of chairs down a chipping hallway.
I’m just an aging, slow riser with pale French doors bracing my sharpened shoulders.

I should just stay in.