COUNTDOWN TO GREATNESS

The knowledge not of sorrow, you were saying, but of boredom

Is--aside from reading speaking smoking--

Of what, Maude Blessingbourne it was, wished to know when, having risen,

"approached the window as if to see what really was going on";

And saw rain falling, in the distance more slowly,

The road clear from her past the window-glass--

Of the world, weather-swept, with which one shares the century.

--George Oppen, from Discrete Series

***

***

Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue


I went to a cobbler
To fix a hole in my shoe
He took one look at my face
And said, "I can fix that hole in you"

I beg your pardon
I'm not looking for a cure
Seen enough of my friends
In the depths of the godsick blues

You know I am a liar
You know I am a liar
Nobody helps a liar

Because I've been down to Dixie
And dropped acid on my tongue
Tripped upon the land
Until enough was enough

I was a little bit lighter
And adventure on my sleeve
I was a little drunk
And looking for company

So I found myself a sweetheart
With the softest of hands
We were unlucky in love
But I'd do it all again

We build ourselves a fire
We build ourselves a fire
But you know I am a liar
You know I am a liar

And you don't know what I've done

By the rolling river is
Exactly where I was
There was no simple cure
For unlucky in love

To be lonely is a habit
Like smoking or taking drugs
And I've quit them both
But man, was it rough

Now I am tired
It just made me tired
Let's build ourselves a fire
Let's build ourselves a fire