hollis (they/them) currently studying classics and archaeology.
JENNY USED TO LET ABSOLUTELY ANYBODY CRASH AT HER PLACE. IT WAS LIKE A YEAR-ROUND CHRISTMAS MIRACLE. IF YOU HAD ANY SECRETS, SHE DIDN’T WANT TO KNOW, AND THE ONES SHE HAD SHE KEPT TO HERSELF. THERE WAS A WALL HEATER DOWN AT ONE END OF THE HALLWAY AND A BIG, DARK LIVING ROOM AT THE OTHER. ONE ELECTRIC LAMP BY THE COUCH IF YOU NEEDED IT, ALL EXITS VISIBLE TO THE EYE FROM THERE. SOME OF THE PEOPLE WHO HAD NEED OF JENNY’S PLACE WERE ALL RIGHT AND SOME WEREN’T EVER GOING TO GET RIGHT, AND SHE’D ALREADY GOTTEN SEVERAL LETTERS FROM THE CITY ADVISING HER TO KEEP A LOWER PROFILE UNLESS SHE WANTED TROUBLE BUT THEN I ENTERED THE PICTURE. BAD LUCK. LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE WHO CAME THROUGH I WAS TRYING TO FIND A BETTER DIRECTION BUT IT DIDN’T WORK OUT THAT WAY. PRYING EYES SHOULD HAVE TENDED TO THEIR OWN BUSINESS. PEOPLE DON’T THINK TOWNS LIKE OURS CAN TURN INTO BATTLEGROUNDS BUT WE HAD A WAR HERE. THERE. I DON’T LIVE THERE ANY MORE EITHER. I LEFT WHEN JENNY LEFT. IT’S JUST A SPOT ON THE MAP NOW. WE RODE TOGETHER FOR A WHILE BUT THEN WE LOST EACH OTHER. SOMETIMES I THINK I HEAR FROM HER BUT OTHER TIMES I THINK I’M JUST DREAMING. NOBODY KNOWS WHERE ANYBODY LANDED. YOU DON’T KEEP IN TOUCH WHEN THE WAR DOESN’T GO YOUR WAY.
I am so normal about the new upcoming Mountain Goats album.
It’s never light outside yet when they climb into the van
Remember at your peril, forget the ones you can
You smile at me in total defiance of all decency
You’ve got it down to a science, that innocent look
You’ve got it practiced real good
But I know you’d kill me if you could stand the sight of blood
When I was twelve years old, they put me on the throne
When I was twelve years old, they made me king
From the ocean south of here to the northern hemisphere
They gave me everything
Now I’m thirteen, and no one takes me seriously
Now I’m thirteen, and they’re trying to take away control
I don’t know how stupid you all think I am
But as sure as flowers grow along the western wall
Heads are gonna roll
The cave mouth shines
By pure force of will
I look down on the world
From the top of this lonesome hill
And you can run, and run some more
From here all the way to Singapore
But I will carry you home in my teeth
In the great hall you drink red wine
You chew meat off the bone
I beat down the new path to the castle
I come naked and alone
I laid my son on the bier, I burned the wreath
Fire overhead, water underneath
You can stand up or you can run
You and I both know what you’ve done
And I will carry you home
I will carry you home
I will carry you home in my teeth
I’m gonna get myself in fighting trim
Scope out every angle of unfair advantage
I’m gonna bribe the officals, I’m gonna kill all the judges
It’s gonna take you people years to recover from all of the damage
Our mother has been absent
Ever since we founded Rome
But there’s gonna be a party when the wolf comes home
“See that young man who dwells inside his body like an uninvited guest“ is one of the most trans lyrics written by a cis person
And there, there I will be
And who, who’s coming with me?
To show me my one true face
When I arrive at my preordained place
the land's opening up like a blanket,
and the dandelions spread themselves thickly out
along the fields, which are, evidently, endless;
and we are hotly in love with one another.
we've got an unquenchable thirst in our throats.
we are, for some reason, all the time, bleeding,
and we are friendless.
and we love these dogs that roll on the lawns here in galesburg --
because they seem to know something nobody else knows.
it is written in the smiles on their faces,
and it rings in their high young voices
we are burning up all of our choices up here
where the tall grass grows, up here in galesburg.
the sky's opening up like an old wound,
and the rain on our bodies is warm tonight
and the ground underneath us shakes in the cracking thunder.
we can taste fresh blood in our mouths again:
there is no chance of getting enough of it,
and we tally up all our possessions, we're going under.
but we love these dogs that loll in the rain here in galesburg
as the new season rocks them in its terrible arms.
yeah they howl as though the world were ending,
and we are watching the sky unwinding
and some of our promises were binding up here where our dreams take form
up here in galesburg.
It gets harder to keep trying to hold on Watch our hopes take wing Wave at them when they're gone Plunge like suicides from rooftops Break our ankles when we land And bless the arrows That strike us where we stand If it doesn't crush me It's alright If it doesn't break me It's alright All the petty demons trying to break me in two I was born stronger than any of you It's alright It's alright It's alright It gets complicated When they come in for their counterattack Everybody hates a victim Who won't stop fighting back Sprayed blood in their faces Play for keeps And bless the brave assassins Who strike us while we sleep If it doesn't crush me It's alright If it doesn't break me It's alright All the petty demons trying to break me in two I was born stronger than any of you It's alright It's alright It's alright