Ringing In My Ears

There was ringing in my ears
As I came down the canyon
As I crashed thought the city
It was a song about a system
Let him run wild
Yesterday, today
Let him run down
Until he puts every box in its place

I left Milwaukee with enough cash
To pay the tolls back to Chicago
I drove, dreaming of the words
I could write to Summer Guest
I thought of 18 years before
Walking through the forest in Fridley, Minnesota
Writing movies, pornographic poems
Imagining shipwrecks, leading the way

I travel
I write in threes - verses, thoughts, plans
I wander in two of four time zones
In a dozen area codes
In the shadow of the valley
That falls, twinkling, from Los Angeles
I know where the curves are
Even if I haven't taken that freeway
All that often
Since that cold sweat January day

August 4, 2007