Roll Call

Thank you, "Paul's Boutique"... for bus rides, bad dubs, and rap music.

Thank you, "Personal Journals"... for AM rush hours, rt. 110, and drive-thrus.

Thank you, "40oz to Freedom"... for bicycles, hormones, and swimming pools.

Thank you, "Reflection Eternal"... for 9/11, rides home, and relaxation.

Thank you, "Food & Liquor"... for cigarette smoke, rhode island, and trips north.

Thank you, "Abbey Road"... for minivans, mono-stereo, and silver cans.

Thank you, "Beats, Rhymes, & Life"... for smokestacks, theses, and dusk.

Thank you, "Smiley Smile/ Wild Honey"... for soft light, pet fish, and red wine.

Thank you, "The Bends"... for tears, basements, and brown liquor.

Thank you, "I'll Sleep When You're Dead"... for the cold, the night, and the green.

Thank you, "Donuts"... for being alone, being together, and djs.

Thank you, "Brazilian Girls"... for bottled water, conversation, and empathy.

Thank you, "Grassoots"... for lyrics, cassette tapes, and youth.

Thank you, "Live at Stubb's"... for backseats, house parties, and altoid tins.

Thank you, "High Water"... for poetry, repeat, and learning to be creative.

Thank you, "E&A"... for queens, small rooms, and Alaskans.

Thank you, "Ironman"... for shit talking, high school, and endless records.

Thank you, "Waiting for the Sun"... for new friends, wax, and blue sunsets.

Thank you, "Bazooka Tooth"... for trips home, trips back, and instant connections.

Thank you, "Get Lifted"... for summer, backyards, and jungle fever.

Thank you, "The Taste of Rain, Why Kneel?"... for sunrise, blueberries, and westhampton.

Thank you, "Elephant"... for beer challenges, snowfall, and a long walk.

Thank you, "Dark Side of the Moon"... for jeeps, air drums, and oakdale.

Thank you, "Okeeblow"... for struggles, driveways, and suggestions.

Thank you, "Forever"... for ciphers, maximas, and skateboards.

Thank you, "Illinoise"... for a bus, a train, and a performance with wings.

Thank you, "No Music"... for headphones, silence, and downtown manhattan.

Thank you... i'll always remember you... but more importantly, where i was with you.

Ithaca, again

Odysseus looked for you.

He was lost trying to find you;

Kissed the girls on his way,

Then lost it, blown off,

He stabbed the man in his eye--

For you, I can't imagine why.

Are you supposed to be

The city we all look for,

But never really find?

He should thank the wind,

I think, the island is not my kind.

"Do you dwell in shining Ithaca,"

The name of the straight, just, and true?

No, but I saw them down in Ithaca, 

Drunk, high, and in the lips all colored blue.

"Ithaca, you were--"

Ithaca, you were brown and grey.

Ithaca, you covered me in clouds, snow, and rain-- you showed the sun only once, tempting me.

Ithaca, you were further away than I thought.

Ithaca, how long is Rt. 79?

Ithaca, your skunks smell like skunks-- I fear there is one trapped under this car.

Ithaca, are your bars open?

Ithaca, do people really use the tractor crossing?-- if I'm going to cross in my tractor, does it have to be here?

Ithaca, your room is small, it smells, and my view is of the road formerly known as Western.

Ithaca, stock the fridge.

Ithaca, you let me walk, but you should have said where.

Ithaca, you wanted to show me something-- I said 'yes' then 'no' and left. What was it you were going to pull out of your trousers to show me, Ithaca?

Ithaca, you got me beerdrunk and lovesick and left me here to fend for myself and rot.

Ithaca, these aren't hipsters, these are hippies.

Ithaca, when do your bars close?

Ithaca, you stock your shelves with college teens and local filth-- I don't know which is worse.

Ithaca, they wear the same clothes.

Ithaca, I ate your food and I paid for it.

Ithaca, call my wife and tell her I am watching your televisions.

Ithaca, I don't remember your walk home. Did you walk me back?

Ithaca, your gorges aren't gorgeous-- I watch as people hurl themselves off your edges.

Ithaca, your bananas aren't ripe.

Ithaca, you made a girl cry-- this is the worst thing you did. And this after she showed you such kindness, such concern. It is this I can't forgive, Ithaca. Did you see her face? She tried not to cry. I saw it.

Ithaca, I sat there explaining it to them but you made it so hard to understand.

Ithaca, you were cruel.

Ithaca, I'm not drinking anymore fluids-- not so long as you're around.

Ithaca, your fog rolled in.

Ithaca, I get it now.

Ithaca, you fought to keep me.

Ithaca, my windshield was dirty-- I cleaned it.

Ithaca, how long is Rt. 79?

Ithaca, I slowed, I followed, you fought.

Ithaca, you taught me a black lesson-- I'm staying away from you, vowing to never speak to you again.

Ithaca, is this the reputation you want?

Ithaca, is it just me?