Southbound Train

Holding kisses in the afternoon,
On a southbound train.
Engine ringin' with a rhythmic weight,
Through the pouring rain.

Destination, destination,
Wish it further away.
Combination, combination,
We'll never be the same, we'll never be the same...
We sing a new refrain.

Alabama through the window pane,
A slow collective gaze.
Turning center turning thoughts on end,
The tangled webs remain.

Inclination, inclination,
Wish it further away.
Celebration, celebration,
We'll never be the same, we'll never be the same...
We sing a new refrain.

Bridge
To sing a new refrain (we)
(We) sustain love in the hurricane
In the hurricane (3x)
Hurricane, hurricane

We fly in this domain (we)
(We) retain peace in the harmony
In the harmony (3x)



Heady hummin' from the platform on,
The pillars buckle and fade.
Eyes are open eyes are steady and true,
We walk along the blade.

Destination, destination,
Wish it further away.
Combination, combination,
We'll never be the same, we'll never be the same...
We’ll never be the same.

Rehearsal Gems

Southbound Train

Pale Blue Dot
Dumped and Pissed
Going Home
Ass Kicker
Revelation 9:21
Tokyo

Empty Bottles and Broken Bones

Varney Solos

Get lost, in a long run,
Push through, until the woe is numbed,

Sit down, under a tattoo gun,
Until the wretchedness is wrung,

(Take a) quick dip in a cold lake,
Get braced, for your own sake,

Take a sip, of the potion that burns,
A tonic, for the broken heart that still yearns.

If you think life is just a ruse,
Press down on the bruise,
And simplify.

Getting There

In the middle of a bath a thunderclap,
Bat a lash, dim the lights, dabble in the stash.
Toes are poking through the suds, they wiggle and squirm,
Catch a laugh, battle back, wallow in the herbs.

Up upon the shelf a candle burns,
Hear a noise, keep your poise, point of no return.
Shelly knows now, it’s the real McCoy,
Heaven sent, supplement, put away your toys.

Thunderclap

Knick knack paddy whack give a dog a bone--hey!

Caught up in the thick of it, desert the bath,
Towel off, molotov thoughts upon the path.
Hear a hiss and there a kiss of light upon the stove,
Out the kitchen window is the real treasure trove.

Here’s a bunny in the yard, hopping through the rain.
Double take, goodness sake, he’s drinking champagne.
Now the wheels wobble on the magic bus,
What the cuss, girder up, time to make a fuss.

Thunderclap 1

Delhi Skies
 
(Verse one, in which the narrator wakes to bird song set contrarily against a fumy Delhi sky)

I woke up this morning, the smoke hadn’t cleared,
The AQI is the number I feared.
 
I pulled up the covers and consulted the screen,
597 saw the end of my dream.
 
A breath I took, a rumble I felt,
A kick to the lungs is the deal that was dealt.
 
The Delhi sky moves, and the Delhi sky dips,
You’re better off breathing in tiny little sips.
 
(The second verse, in which the narrator proffers that the megacosm pushes back, diminished though the once-wild blue yonder may be)

The Delhi sky does as the Delhi sky must,
To the bottom of the well is the angle of my thrust.
 
(In the) dusty beginnings and afternoons,
Skyline, outline, you’re lost with the blue.
 
Shake it off, shake it off, shake it, shake shake your head,
I’d rather be yellow, but I’m coming up red.
 
For the P.M. 2.5 compromise
In our eyes you're alive, in a blink you will rise.
 
In our eyes
You’ll rise
Delhi skies
 
(The third verse, in which the narrator cogitates on obscurity, codified language launched unheeded into the atmosphere, and the eventual acquiescence that some calculations are for naught)

I pulled back the curtains and looked to the street,
The peddler man sang his wares, his message rang complete.

He didn’t hear my chorus, he didn’t hear my verse,
I couldn’t gather whether ‘twas a blessing or a curse.
 
(So) I broke free from badness, I broke through the fear,
I no longer measured time in days, months or years.

Diwalis will come and Diwalis will go,
In their wake we will breathe all the seeds we have sown.

(The final verse, in which the narrator recognizes the universal tribulations that mark existence, invokes cloud spirits, employs incendiary imagery, and roots for his fellow humans)

We filter, we flounder, we sort through the weeds,
We’re up with Apsaras and down to our knees.

Urvasi, Menaka, and Rambha alight,
And we’ll sing songs of freedom from cinders and blight.

(So) Hold it up, hold it up, hold it, hold your head high,
Nurture your god given right to deny.

The P.M. 2.5 compromise,
In our eyes you're alive, in a blink you will rise.

In our eyes
You’ll rise
Delhi skies

Songs for Sitting and Standing

Delhi Skies

Troublesome Souls
 
Handguns, hangars, songs of blue,
Peripheral castes and peripheral news.
Razor thin, eight miles thick,
My attention span went and got lovesick.
 
Dyed in green, itinerary,
Jesus, god, a schedule harried.
Pills to take and foil to peel,
At once off earth, and at once so real.

I got no illusions about my role,
Cursed to carry around this troublesome soul.
 
Bushed, beat, bedraggled and stooped,
Huddled, muddled, cantankerous and rude.
On up above in the dwindlin’ light,
I see we’re hunkered down for the night.
 
Time zone crush of powder and blue,
Passport passed just go on through.
Eyelids heavy, day or night,
Ain’t much sense in putting up a fight.
 
We got no illusions about our roles,
Cursed to carry around these troublesome souls.
 
Hand in hand, arm in arm,
From the Bangkok, to the farm.
Hopes afloat for milder climes,
All the chapters, all the good times.
 
To the south, take a step,
Deeper now, don’t forget,
Whence you came, the little room,
The mother’s milk, the window, and the view.

You got no illusions about your role,
Cursed to carry around your troublesome soul.
 
Culminatin’ images,
Bringing new significance.
Past and present puzzle pieces,
Making sense the how . . . the reasons.
 
Hello Ma, hello Pa,
Finest sight we ever saw.
Airport embrace all around,
Touching hearts when we touch down.
 
We got no illusions about our roles,
Cursed to carry around these troublesome souls.

KirK

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