SERIOUS JOHN

the moment I saw her I felt both sides of a dime
every car alarm in the county going off at the same time
she said, John you can’t be serious, you can’t stand out here all day
I said, i’ll stand here ‘til my boots melt, time for new boots anyway

I don’t mean to be a nuisance, don’t want to disturb you, miss
I’m just trying to get a read to see, am I alone in this?
the trees all bent down for her to show more of the sky
then lifted her in the branches to see the town from up high

behind the house: a big field under power lines
the lines ran to a tower with high voltage signs
a billboard by the turnpike: win a free set of tires
the drone of cicadas and a buzzing from the wires

everybody here feels it, they just don’t know what to call
the impossible pressure of nothing at all
she turned on the faucet; said, where do I begin?
the water took the shape of the glass it was in

the Hotel Continental rekindles a flame
check in here under an assumed name
memories of myself, what are they for?
the self I remember doesn’t exist anymore

she died standing up, squinting into the sun
they carried her away like that to the surprise of all but one
set in motion long ago by an incident perhaps
to mark the beginning of the final collapse

does it matter, is there any truth to it at all
is it as i remember or choose to recall?
there’s only one way out of here I’ve ever found
go to the end and loop back around

there are more hills on the road here than you’ll ever find in the south
and the words are somewhere between the brain and the mouth
in the morning when its still dark, I hear my heartbeat
and wait for the headlights to pull the bus up the street