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the art of swimming

by leo crandall

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1.
station girl 05:00
Station Girl He loved his Burlington girl Strawberry blond she smoked on the rail In bed she was the dark of the sea And when she laughed it was dogs running free He stayed, the heavens above unmoved She left, her world always turned so blue From a window I saw what he did get through And after all that I know I want a station girl too In a ribbon of smoke Over gravel and oil He walked on the rail with me. We gathered the air, the air we released So briefly held on these haunting streets These moths inside my house too long So frail in my hand tonight gave me this song
2.
The Whisperin’ Duke My father’s maple out back Down among the roots I buried my dog Jack I’m a duke in exile brother far from me Through my kitchen window this is what I see Under the branches crawl the shadows First I’ll close your eyes then I’ll close mine Weary I’ll lay down, this body of mine This body of mine I lofted my banner … rode full bore On all of the sleepwalkers in this bar I declare war, I declare war, I declare war. I’ve got a shovel gonna work it with my back And dig another hole next to my dog Jack I’ll give a name to all my living hurt Speak it to the ground from my lips unto the earth. I’ll whisper in that hole and fill it, fill it up with dirt Chorus My work is done; I’m finished with beneath Gonna lean that shovel up against the tree I’ll walk away exile on my back Leave my father’s maple: I’m never coming back Under the branches crawl the shadows Under the shadows crawl the roots reaching out Chorus My sport is war
3.
Gretchen Watch it Burn She told me when I got to town Don’t put your suitcase on the ground Her voice was so low it never let go When I got to town Murdering our albatrosses We broke our oaths and cut our losses Though we stammered around the path remained sound Murdering Gretchen watch it burn all night stand outside the firelight We loiter undone by the night’s iron tongue Gretchen watch it burn Watermarked we sat beside a road up north under the sky Your head in my chest Oh my palimpsest Watermarked Long ago out on my porch you welded us, beloved torch It’s been the longest goodbye I believe we started to die- That night so long ago
4.
The Dynamiter It wasn’t really blue, Out on the Vienna You led me to the edge Of the lower Susquehanna We floated golden hope Beyond where we could see It left a nothing, sweet and clean, And nothing felt so good Inside you and me Like a London dynamiter I did all I could do To blow up those guitar shops That made me think of you I couldn’t ask for better: In all that wreckage I was saved From the gut strung music Inside me and you That never would get played Let this vassal find some peace Let me finally be still If God can just stop scrambling, once again Let the night do what it will All the nothing that I did All the nothing we went through Seemed like such a waste of precious time Except it was with you Seemed like such a waste of precious time Except it was with you
5.
Calamities of Lovers Broken hearted writers you may hear them sing: (A cri de coeur, a wailing at the sun) “Every piece of paper I ever stained with ink Couldn’t keep my only one” “No one cares for me No one cares to get out of my way And let me be” All the lovesick draftsmen you may hear them sing Schematize the hearts of broken men “All this engineering, my cautious ink Couldn’t bring her back again” All the lovesick samurai you may hear them sing Fighting for their lovers who have gone Kneeling in the morning at the rising sun Committing seppuku at dawn Broken hearted seamstresses you may hear them sing Stitching all their pain into their clothes Mending what is riven, mending what is torn And there is much for them to sew Broken hearted lovers you may hear them sing At the ocean pleading with the tide “From time to time my lover shows up in my dreams” Then she’s mine all mine “No one cares for me No one cares to get out of my way Not even me”
6.
i, boxer 06:55
I, Boxer Rising. Rising. The sky is a sieve above this hill Morning star is rising.  I cannot hold it still I am a passenger on the loneliest highway ever paved I am the hardest look Christ ever gave. I don’t see it but I feel it, I feel it all around, That force out in the dark, I only know it by its mark The canvas is a Kansas field, its rich and its deep and its wide Things that I don’t know I need it is waiting to provide He turns away, drops his robe. Virgin Mary tattooed on his back I am chosen, he readies his attack Chorus I can hold on, but I can’t hold together what wants to fall apart Hesperus is rising, rising The richest peat upon this earth, I shall be a dark and heavy cloth I’ll put my fist upon his lips, upon his lips of moss They file into my heart, the decimating angels They shoulder out the dark and leave light in its stead I know, know that love is gathering, love is gathering near I know it by its mark. I will know it by its mark
7.
Saint Sebastian When the arrow pierces you the arrow pierces me I will stand behind you like St. Sebastian's tree Its ancient planet wandering, a long unbroken vow I will stand behind you…at least for now. The river rolls around your foot and flows out to the sea the sun's a little thing laying at your knee Chorus You fall down on the floor I lean against the wall A black pool opens up you begin your fall I look across the alley put my hand upon your head Awake you touch the sleeper…asleep you touch the dead
8.
The Hospice Car When the low winds blow She goes out Knows it’s time, paints her name Where loss is found On this car of mine She was a sailor Oh tall, tall girl come shining now Come shining It must be written This chronicle on the car I race Around, around, around This iron memoir There had to be a witness west out to the speedway Gonna drag her painted name across the line Then turn from home and leave all this behind When the moonlight trails I’ll whisper Better yet won’t speak at all About her The sky above us, forsaken ones that loved us They both reach down I’m gonna drag my weary heart across the line Then turn from home and leave all this behind Leave it all behind When the low winds blow When the moonlight trails When the long rains fall When the long rains fall
9.
new river 03:00
New River I’m gonna burn like a desert I’m gonna hold the rock I’m gonna hold the sand I’m gonna burn like a desert I’m gonna hold this sweat, a river in my hand Then I’m gonna shine like a river And put aside the things of darkness and light I’m gonna shine like a river And keep on winding til the day is bright Oh I’m gonna fall like a sunset I’m gonna lay me down when the day is long I’m gonna fall like a sunset And hold my light ‘til the morning song Then I’m gonna find the New River New River roll hot and mean Gonna lay me down in that river New River take me down stream Lay me down in that river New River set me free
10.
Drawn to the Wheel I am drawn to the wheel Drawn to the sound of the evening bell I am drawn to the wheel Drawn to the sound of the evening bell Everything that’s underneath this old brown shoe It’s just of the roof of hell

credits

released June 20, 2017

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leo crandall Syracuse, New York

I am a singer/songwriter/composer. I play the requinto, cello and guitar. I have toured Africa sponsored by the State Dept., nominated for Australia’s Bluestar Award, charted #14 nationally in Roots and Blues, received a Meet the Composer Grant. I have composed film scores, dance scores, theater music and ambient sound for installations. My music has been heard all over the world. ... more

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