another collaboration with my friend jace, this one (a bit more) sober. we took an existing poem of mine, “the flatland goodbye,” and reworked it into a song. his band would perform it now and then, but regrettably it was never recorded.

 

the flatland goodbye

how many nights did we drive down
until we reached the long edge of dawn
how many cornfields passed us by
until you finally caught on
i’m glad that i was driving
you’ve always been too slow
at getting us where
we both wanted to go
the fences were standing
attending the evening
i was sorry to tell them
i was most likely leaving
and the silos grew silent
and the gravel complained
that you were still standing
as i drove away
now i always think of you
on the back country roads
with john denver crooning
his missals of love
the windmills wave me on
the phone lines softly smiling
reaching the long edge of dawn
i’m glad that i’m alone and driving on

 

already there

how many nights
did we drive down
til we found
the long edge of dawn
how many cornfields
passed us by
until you finally caught on

to the fact that
you forgot our destination
til you noticed
we were already there
you never stopped
along the wayside
like a drive-by
you drove by too late
to navigate the fear

i couldn’t stand your driving
you’ve always been too slow
at getting us
where we both
wanted to go

how could i not
see the road signs
before we
were too far along
how many times
did i tell you to get off
before you
finally caught on

to the fact that
you forgot our destination
til you noticed
we were already there
you never stopped
along the wayside
like a drive-by
you drove by too late
to navigate the fear

the fences were standing
attending the evening
and i couldn’t tell them
i was probably leaving

the silos grew silent
the gravel was screaming
with you lit in the rearview
you were lost
and you were missing the meaning

you saw the phone lines smile
while i just watched
the windmills wave me on
how many times
did i give you that look
before you finally caught on

to the fact that
you forgot our destination
til you noticed
we were already there
you never stopped
along the wayside
like a drive-by
you drove by too late
to navigate the fear

i couldn’t stand your driving
you’ve always been too slow
at getting us
where we both
wanted to go

i couldn’t stand your driving
you always were too slow
at getting us
where we both
wanted to go