The Knowledge of Engines and Cars (2009)

Flying down the Skyline Drive in an April burst of Spring
Bare tree limbs like dark paint drips on a bright blue canvas sky.
Mountain ranges arrange themselves like waves rolling off the sea
In the valley below they marched to and fro in the War Between the States

Cardinal, Titmouse, Black Capped Chickadee
Come to the feeder, taking a seed
Through the window each eating alone
Find for myself what I will never be.

I was running late to visit my uncle who rarely went far from home
Looked so much like my father could be twins if you didn't know
The cancer cells which laid him down were there, still unobserved
"I'm tired, I can't do much, it comes with being old"

Cardinal, Titmouse, Black Capped Chickadee
Come to the feeder, taking a seed
Through the window each eating alone
Find for myself what I will never be.

Shared schools and holidays, shared the same small room
But I never knew what was in his head and one day he was gone
For a year he didn't return and he never really did explain
What had happened or where he had been

He must have gone to the movies stopped in Bihar
Slept in the mountains in a blanket of stars
Tore his thread off by the side of the road
He returned with the knowledge of engines and cars