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All tracks produced by Mike Finley Š 2011 by Danny Klecko
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Tracks Hoisted.......................................................................4 I Love You Jane Goodall............................................5 Sourdough Vampire...................................................6 Yellow Ticket Parade.................................................8 13 Years Old............................................................10 Marlene Dietrich......................................................12 South Dakota Ranch...............................................13 Token.......................................................................14 The Coveter.............................................................15 Liquor Store Parking Lot..........................................16 Christmas in the Monkey House.............................17 Assisi.......................................................................19 Feathers and Prophets............................................21
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Hoisted On a 30 foot pole I can sit above the city And just like God Go unnoticed The occupants of the avenue Can hardly hold my interest So I'll look inside myself for amusement Closing my eyes I rifle through mental catalogs In search of paintings by Francis Bacon I find it hard to believe Margaret Thatcher found his images dreadful 4
I Love You Jane Goodall I would pay to share your silence While bugs would crawl on me Secretly hoping a chimp or two will surface We would sit on beds of leaves Or maybe empty Scotch cases I'm told you are partial to Famous Grouse If the jungle remained silent And we were left to our devices Maybe that wouldn't be so bad We could climb into your tree house And you would make us Oolong tea While I tell you how beautiful you are 5
Sourdough Vampire The bakery's old Hallway's cold Condensation's Causing mold On the baseboard On the wall Clock strikes midnight Ovens call I'm going to rise tonight Close your eyes tonight Knead the world while you sleep Pray to God your soul to keep
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Bones are cold Eyes are old Seeing stories Never told Turn the deadbolt Darkness crawls Clock strikes midnight Ovens call
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Yellow Ticket Parade At the beginning of each week Precisely at 9:30 Teacher planted her class in assigned seats This is when the unclean spirit entered This is when she smiled It was the moment that the parade would commence Three separate children Descendants of poverty Marched single file with open hands They were given yellow lunch tickets Standard government issue Unlike normal kids whose tickets were blue 8
They weren't allowed to present their parents That might have explained their current dilemma Instead they did their best to dodge the glares From this moment on They were on every 3rd grader's radar
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13 Years Old Tom Thumb closes at 11 pm At 11:06 a Bonneville pulls up And two nuns pop out and bum rush the door They are in need of cigarettes But the cashier must be Lutheran Because she refused to answer the ladies prayer So the brides of Christ are in a black mood And brush past me and a friend Who have spent most of July in this parking lot "Excuse me sister" I called out "Would you like a Marlboro red?" I lit it for her as she pulled back her wimple 10
Exposing her hair and closing her eyes And when that smoke shot down the pipe The Holy Spirit gives me reason to know For the first time ‌ I was absolved
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Marlene Dietrich God's line Is a mythical boundary It separates the savage from the saints I was always comfortable in my place Until I noticed you on the other side
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South Dakota Ranch The day before my 18th birthday Any boy would be lucky to be alone At the windbreak with a red headed girl Our camp perimeter was a series of mounds Or crushed and rusted beer cans The byproduct of her parents marriage The bats were just beginning to swoop And she stooped to make a fire beside me Only half the buttons on her blouse were employed Oh what I would have given to..... But I rode out of that world the next day And today after 30 years I can't even remember her name
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Token For the first time in a long time Since the summers reached its heart I catch the scent of autumn I feel the touch of you Hallways radiant with roses Serve you justice only portions of the time They won't compare in beauty They cannot capture you You upbraid me with your voice you hug me with your eyes You are my holy token You are my monkey paw
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The Coveter I wish I were smarter So you would be impressed I wish that I were handsome So you would get undressed I won't appear unique My arsenal runs dry I know you'll never change But still I wonder why
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Liquor Store Parking Lot Hula Girl - Hula Girl Dance beneath the raindrops I'm pretty sure my windshield will keep you dry Left/Right - Left/Right Your hips gyrate with fluidity As if your balance was determined on a spring Tick-Tock - Tick-Tock The clouds eclipse the moon But it's still engaging when you dance in the neon Hula Girl - Hula Girl I am fearful that our tryst must end My girlfriend is headed towards the car, And she has some Tanqueray
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Christmas in the Monkey House My wife and I came from broken homes So the holidays were usually frantic Dashing from home, to frantic home, to home My wife and daughter wouldn't give up They painted bulls-eyes on their party dresses And set out to visit their extended families But my son was 7 and still somewhat loyal He would not abandon me though it meant There would be no Christmas goose for us We heated a pair of Super America chuck wagons In a gas station microwave We also got Fritos and Diet Mountain Dew 17
We decided to celebrate the Jesus birthday In a favorite place In a darkened tunnel Of the Como Zoo's Primate building We sat alone, chewing and slurping Just us, the apes and monkeys Who did not seem to notice us or care But along came the building attendant Who pointed to the sign saying No food or drink in the primate house "But this is our Christmas" I said to him "We got nowhere else to go" Scrooge turned his back to us, and was not seen again
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Assisi Several hours before my family awoke I would hop into a scalding tub And read books in the bath My favorite featured Saint Francis. He liked animals And he liked girls When they drove him crazy He jumped into the rose bushes Naked When the book was down to 100 pages I rationed them Three pages a day would buy me one more month I didn't want to start a day without his presence 19
This was better than one long ecstatic soaking On the last day – on the final page Francis was laid to rest And a thousand birds from every foreign land descended to pay their respects I quickly locked the bathroom door I didn’t want anyone to see me cry Two months later – I had a shower installed
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Feathers and Prophets Angels were cast in a hierarchy In which they value their identities Each legion wants to be better than the next The Arch Angels are pledged to Christ His resume is impressive And he possesses a skill set that is east to covet The Cherubs support the Baptizer His diet is almost vegan And you have to admit the camel-hair coat is bad ass
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