1. |
Click
00:37
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2. |
When We
02:17
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3. |
Madrid to Pamplona
04:15
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|
Your farewell party was insufferable.
Everyone you knew was there
taking pictures in the lantern light.
(Scrunched up faces, I cannot bear.)
For half an hour, we broke away from them,
and I pleaded with you to stay,
but it was time to go, and Miriam
kidnapped you away to Spain.
Life would be better if you had stayed
like you agreed before she came in
and literally pulled you away from me
to board a plane headed to Madrid.
Now, I run with the bulls every day.
Would it have made a difference if I’d stopped
to come see you when you first called?
I didn’t have a thing to say that time,
so it made no sense at all.
You would’ve stayed if not for Miriam.
(She filled your head with all those lies.)
Why’d you have to go with Miriam?
I wish Miriam would die.
Now, I run with the bulls every day.
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4. |
The Same
03:31
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|
When we were young,
you promised you wouldn’t leave,
but here I am now,
and it is just me.
Who was wrong?
Who was the one who believed?
Who is gone?
Who is the one who can’t leave?
Was there ever concern
that what you said'ld be construed
as something quite never
actually resembling the truth?
You were convincing for a little while,
and I could believe you for a little while,
I thought.
Can you imagine a past where I don’t exist now?
I think that you’ll find that I cannot be found.
I existed for a little while.
I hope you believed me for a little while
because I lied.
I can do the same as you.
I can do what you do.
Maybe, what I said isn’t true.
I can hold “the mirror,” too.
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5. |
I Don't Know Why
02:33
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I don’t know why
you never ran away
or why you even stayed
or why you’d want to be here.
I don’t know why
I ever thought I had a choice,
because when I hear your voice,
I always want to be near.
What would I be without …
what would I be without you?
I don’t know why
you never even strayed.
It’s even obvious today:
I don’t really deserve you,
and if I tried
for forever and a day
to merit you some way,
I’d always end the loser.
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6. |
You Didn't Know
02:33
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|
Don’t act surprised
that I only called to say goodbye.
No reason why,
but I can’t make up one to pacify.
You made my choice:
the hesitation in your voice.
Don’t sound confused.
It’s an argument you’ll only lose.
Nothing to do.
You can hang up now. I’m done with you.
I made my choice
based on hesitation in your voice
when you said,
“I don’t know.”
Don’t call me back.
It’s nearly ten; it’s time to hit the sack.
I won’t react
to your voicemails that seek to attack.
This is my choice
based on hesitation in your voice
when you said,
“I don’t know.”
Don’t feign to cry.
You know it’s best that we should say, “Goodbye.”
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7. |
When You Can't Smile
03:08
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|
“There’s nothing wrong.
Don’t ask again.
I don’t want to talk.
Please, don’t come in.
"I don’t want to smile.
I’m angry again.
I just want to hide.
Please, don’t come in.
I’m scared.
"You’ll never know
the places I went.
The worry still grows.
Please, don’t come in.
I’m scared.”
I never left.
I’ve always been near.
Please, look at me!
Please, let me in.
I’m here.
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8. |
Sparkle
04:34
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As cold as frost, as hot as day,
a distance often far away,
as slow as fire in its decay:
Do you still see me this way?
As cool as fall, as warm as day,
a closeness never far away,
the burning fire of your faith –
I always see you this way.
And how you sparkle when you shine
By my side all the time
How you sparkle when you shine
The only reason I can smile.
Pretty does as pretty is,
and prettily, you do this:
bring me love and happiness,
comfort me, seek to forgive.
How you sparkle when you shine
By my side all the time
How you sparkle when you shine
The only reason I can smile.
How you sparkle when you shine!
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9. |
Things That Are Not Here
04:28
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Religiously, I still cling to nostalgia,
knowing well its resurrection will never come.
I listen closely ‘til it all becomes quite clear:
Yours is one more voice I will never hear.
It’s gone.
What could reinvent closeness but emptiness?
What could make time and space connect but disconnect?
Every smile and talk from thirty years ago
becomes another day away as the distance grows.
It’s gone.
I could never romanticize what’s true.
I could never misremember my time with you.
(The slow parade of emotions as leaves let go,
October resurrects everything that’s gone –
in the fall.)
Religiously, I still cling to you,
faith in your optimism that truth renews.
Still, I feel you ever-present and hard to ignore,
moving ghost-like in the music and trampling the floors
every fall.
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10. |
Nancy
03:18
|
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He was already stood up,
but decided to wait ‘til she showed up,
rehearsed the scene that he'd dreamed up
with an eloquent speech that he’d made up.
And those romantic words would pour
like they’d never done before,
but he was drunk when she showed up,
and his eloquent speech was all mumbled.
Behind the door that she’d locked up,
she didn’t see him at all as he stumbled,
and those romantic words escaped.
Instead, he couldn’t think of a thing in the world to say.
And those romantic words escaped,
and no one heard a thing he said.
Like the other hundred times before, he
came to realize his mistakes again.
Like the other hundred times before, he
realized once again the girl’d escape.
Like the other hundred times before, she’d
be gone without him ever having said
everything that he’d figured out but couldn’t say.
What could he say?
Oh, Nancy, won’t you please come out?
God, Nancy, won't you please come outside?
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11. |
Look Alive
03:41
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You feel the darkness creeping in.
You know this time it won’t end.
What once gave you joy is gone.
To think back is to look “beyond.”
The brightest stars, you ignore
and stare right past into the void.
If you could see, you’d be surprised!
The universe is open wide!
Look alive!
It’s such a blast to be alive!
I wouldn’t let your memory die:
the furthest thing from my mind.
The brightest star in my sky,
my heart is always open wide.
Look alive!
It’s such a blast to be alive!
Listen close and hear the pretty sound:
more beautiful than what surrounds.
Look alive!
It’s such a blast to be alive!
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Keith Morris Mississippi
Twitter: @keithyworld
If you're here, thanks.
Poems at Fishfood, Chathexis Northwest, Sonder Midwest, The
View from Woodall, and Louisville Review.
Music at Tenth Street Miscellany, Hare's Paw Literary Journal, and Defunkt Magazine
Song drafts and such are here:
soundcloud.com/keithmorris11
... more
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