Weekend In Western Illinois

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.