In the night,
In the fog,
Halogen lights are beaming.
Stars to sleep,
Starts to nod:
At wheel, but he’s dreaming.
Summer haze,
Freon smell:
Teenaged poets don’t sound clever.
Wrote some words,
Nothing rhymes.
He knows it always turns out never.
Sunburnt face,
Throat is raw:
Amplifier early warning.
Tattooed skin,
Broken wrists:
Life tastes bitter in the morning.
Breath of stale cigarettes,
Parking lots tuned to Heaven.
Lost his face,
Found a home:
Checking out at 27.
Finger prints
On the moon.
Flesh bound ghost
Is put on trial.
Superfund wild flowers
In a neurotoxic style.
Write a song,
River burns:
Dancing in the street with Nero.
Pulled the plug,
Saved his place
Burroughs anti-hero.
Caffeine nerves
RTA,
Asphalt diving
Arms akimbo.
Who could ever hold their own
As a Midwest
Arthur Rimbaud.
Catch your breath,
Catch a thief,
Catch a virus in contagion.
Pick your friends,
Pick a fight,
Pick a scab.
And the answer came down.
Kept in tender regard.
Kill a joke with a smile.
So much for trying too hard.
No more songs he could play.
Made some noise for a while.
Now the Marble Index
Wins another exile.
A home
Escaped the trial,
Escaped the judgment he was facing.
Slipped the eagle,
Slipped the rock.
Caught by that which he was chasing.
Broken hearts
And dirty skin.
Landmarks track you as you’re growing.
Track marked arms
And rotted teeth:
A price to pay for what you’re know.
Stomach acid in your throat.
Tearing off a fingernail.
One more week,
One more month
In the youth offender jail.
Heat stroke from summer noise.
Light is blasting off the concrete.
Anesthetic guard was up
But got too tired.
And the answer came down.
Kept in tender regard.
Kill a joke with a smile.
So much for trying too hard.
No more songs he could play.
Made some noise for a while.
Now the Marble Index
Wins another exile.
So commit to the earth
Blue-dyed hair that he wore,
Since there’s no going back
To Eleven Sixteen Eight-four.
May lights of Terminal Tower
And bridge of Ford Road spray-paint
Stand a vigil for
Grafton’s criminal saint.
Dreamy vocals, pulsing rhythms, and eerie synths come together to create luxe but ominous atmospheres on the latest from Toronto's Praises. Bandcamp New & Notable Aug 3, 2021