didn't take long / aralee strange

"Everyone sees it in a certain way

everyone knows it as only they can know it

and everyone has things that only they can say"1 

                                 Vic Chesnutt

didn't take long
before word got out

it's a small world

bad news travels fast

and loose a suicide

they said

well what of it

none of our damn business

how he chose to die or when

or where or even if

who are we to say a mumbling word

in the face of such a decision

let us chew instead on the

work left in his roiling wake

take us decades to get what he got every

goddamned hard-to-get-through day

talk about being specific

in your observations 

      "we all know a rose is sometimes a rose but
      what fucking color is it?"2 

talk about facing your demons 

      "my last act on this earth 
      will be to chug-a-lug the mixture 
      and hope for the worst"3 

talking Daddy Long Legs bowl

of blackeyed peas side of belly

laugh in the face of such fears

god knows there are demons out there

don't care how many friends you have

how many people know your name

don't care how much grace and heart

you can muster to carry on

luck of the draw a momentary lapse

they're on you like stink on shit

the rest of your short wretched life

talk about the down dirty rock

bottom truth of the matter

talk about being unafraid

can you even imagine

the simplest things

take a deep breath

wash your hands

button your shirt

open a beer

take a piss

take a long walk

down a rough road

on two good legs

or not

talk about pungent dispatches

from beyond the pale 

      "faith is the lies we tell and tell ourselves
      life is the lies we tell everybody else"4 

not like he didn't address those

days a murder of crows tears

a rip in the sky make you want to

slip on through to the other side

think nothing is better than this

think again and then you're watching

dust motes dance in an empty room

recalling a tune no one ever sang

before and before you know it

      "I am weak 
      outlook is bleak 
      and I'm on stage commencing to squeak"5 

that's how he rolled

how many miles

looking for some relief

          (a moment of silence please)

you have to wonder where he went

and is anybody out there listening in?

say here and now's same as it ever was

sans you

say who's going to pay attention to us now

who's going to set the bar for authentic

who's going to pay the bills

but he's not listening to us anymore

he's not speaking to us anymore

talking about far as those crows flew

from safe home a howling spirit roams

a ragged bag of bones in a sparkly cap

thin skinned fine boned fully intact

scratching out notes on a beatup box

for free

      "It may not be pretty my life up to here 
      but something bold and beautiful occurred 
      I'm not injured"6 

that said

when all is said

and done

didn't take long

 from Left To His Own Devices/Vic Chesnutt

1Distortion, 2Distortion, 3My Last Act

4Distortion, 5Squeak, 6Look at Me