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The Dark Room Act 4 - The Ancient Songs

by Bill White

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1.
the treasure of treasures in lightness arrayed is the result of mistakes we have made all those crazy mornings spent wandering around i walked into the city when the fremont bridge was down coming home at daylight after a 20-hour day getting blown out at the paramount blowing into my own cliche my mama died my sister died im singing in a rock and roll band trying to write a movie about a song from another land you were always on my wavelength i never tuned you out didnt know you never understood what the song was all about i ride my bike into a car fly face first into the street then roll into a basement dark, and try to catch some sleep ive got one pair of sneakers and youve got 50 shoes half the people in the united states thinkk willie nelson invented the blues when you look upon me now it is with contempt and scorn but once the certainty of love ensured a star was born my hands are tied behind my back the railroad cars are sealed the tracks are set in bloody steps across the sacred fields i was an outcast of the islands she was a child of the sea "this is a crime against nature," the thunder protested "this love is not meant to be" Had we been born in ancient times They might have burned us at the stake But the greatest gifts from heaven Come from the mistakes we have made
2.
i believe communism is a good idea capitalism isnt bad either its just the way they carve things up that gives me chills and a fever some people like it one way some people like it the other some women play the part of the patriarch some men play the part of the mother some will always vote democrat even when the candidate is a pig some vote republican just because clint eastwood did some will fly confederate some wave the stars and stripes its all just toilet paper doesnt matter whose ass is being wiped some people are judged by what they eat but the good food book announced it aint what you shove down your throat but what comes out of your mouth that counts some will drink off of a plate some will eat out of a cup What tastes good to a woman Might make a man throw up Some kids believe when Jesus was born he was visited by 3 unicorns they believe in superman and pokemon the lake of fire and waldon pond kids see the moon in the daytime and wonder why they cant see the sun at night if they dont ask the questions they will get all the answers right papa believes in mummies mama believes in ghosts kids believe in everything theyve seen bread turn into toast some thing are right before our eyes other things are hid but kids believe in everything i guess im still a kid kids believe in science and fairy tales too sometimes the sky is on fire and sometimes it is blue sometimes they cry because they are sad but some tears are tears of joy kids dont fight over politics kids fight over toys it more important what you do than what they say you did kids believe in everything thats why im still a kid
3.
when i was a child i believed in creation because the world was a miracle and i was a miracle too we had to learn the steps before we could dance and we all moved so perfectly it couldnt have been left up to chance in what direction will the dancers be turning tomorrow? what tunes will the orchestra play? to be honest i dont even think about tomorrow because im turning 100 today when i was a teen, i loved racing cars i thought the planet on which i was spinning was lost in the stars if god existed for us we did not exist for him and the odds of getting out of this world alive are looking pretty thin when i was a man i forgot all about god i had a family to raise and life was hard if there ever was a creator, he must have been a sadist because he left us ini the rain to rust after he made us when people see me, they say i am old and my race is run what i have left to do has already been done as for the problem of god i leave it up to te seers and the saints of tomorrow who already are on their way here
4.
John Ford 03:45
that desert oasis was an venus fly trap we fell right into the enemys lap the doc was a drunkard the sheriff was quiet some called him earp but to his friends he was wyatt you can search for a meaning on the enlightenment ward but ill take my chances out here with john ford we never meant to kill lincoln it was a kidnapping plot the ransom was freedom for the rebels they had caught but at the last minute a decision was made to shoot the man dead and to hell with the trade so take your fistful of dollars and those morricone chords ill throw in my lot out here with john ford three years ethan wandered alone on the plain taking the scalps of the injuns he'd slain with a hatred so fierce he would kill his own kin had it not been for the love he had stifled within there is a depot called hell where the grapes are stored the stagecoach aint stopping because it carrying john ford after the lights came up on red river john said to howard you made a damn good picture its no fort apache but im a little jealous. im fact i never even suspected that big dumb bastard could act its a long voyage home for the damned and adored expendible sailors going down with john ford from the myths and the movies and the cheap paper backs you learn more history than from history hacks we were born in the rubble of an uncivil war and johnny's not welcome in his brothers house any more and when justice prevails and our sanity restored ill stand with the indians along with john ford
5.
some say the ghost of gypsy rose still haunts the trampled lawn in between the wind and trees a forlorn song is sung the panes on these old windows have been shattered by election and glassless windows cast the most terrible reflections as a child i was raised in this house on haunted hill renting rooms to killers on parole who worked at the sawmill and in our thirteen dusty rooms lost souls were resurrected where glassless windows cast the most terrible reflections 13 faces at the table 13 jailbirds on the wire 13 colonial cables 13 skeletons in the fire the old house is still standing but is buried deep in sand there might have been a landslide but there was no sliding land a rain of sand fell from above with no sense of direction and glassless windows cast the most terrible reflections
6.
one more charade another act scrapbook of artifacts one more story another lie fiction filled alibis false loves true crimes tears flush out open eyes false loves true crimes hearts bleed out.. bleed out in time one more insult another look trails of grappling hooks one more stifle another sigh tactics that crucify false loves true crimes tears flush out open eyes false loves true crimes hearts bleed out.. bleed out in time your artifacts alibis grappling hooks crucify… crucify us false loves true crimes tears flush out open eyes false loves true crimes hearts bleed out.. bleed out in time
7.
she died in his arms he will never forget it but she was my girl he knew it and will always know it i had no right to her love but i had it just the same although she carried my child she bore another mans name i was a ghost at her window a shadow on her balcony her last words were, "Billy, why didnt you marry me?" she gave me her innocence when she was yet a flower we met in secret every night at the midnight hour one morn i set out for London my fortune for to find when i returned my darling lass was no longer mine her wedding was no secret by her father it was decreed she begged him let it not be so in the end she did concede and accepted a man she did not love to be her husband true her hatred for him was sanctified her love for me taboo
8.
9.
clouds as white as feathers above two gliding swans even now are drifting to sea, where love has gone our lake, once placid as a smile prosecutes a lovers' trial with words, hateful and harsh. two sides of a reedy marsh they strip away eternal vows our dreams take flight like swans in the clouds and down below, a rupture long and loud blows ashes high to hide the swan and the clouds
10.
only now i realize what i tried to do was wrong the ancient ones are the only ones who can sing the ancient songs man in a wheelchair autoharp in his lap melodies running in and out of every hole in his body like snakes kid turns to his mom and says hes good mom says he should be hes been singing the same song for 50 years without taking any breaks he stole a melody and wrote a poem he stole the poem as well what he lacked in eruditon he made up for in tradition where every mothers story was his to tell so yo ho ho and a bottle of rum look out baby, here i come to put a new beat on your rowdy dow dow and break every bell in the tower and if people believed that his songs were the best songs they were only best because they were so old fame is the last reward of the pirate the sailor who hides his treasure keeps his gold

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released August 12, 2021

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Bill White Lima, Peru

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