Open All The Time

The river holds a hotel of ghosts
The piano in the kitchen laughs loud
The stairs on old used cars is broke
The beds like a muddy bottom shroud

The bleakness of a funeral inside
The smell of a fisherman’s worm
Running alongside like a pair of eyes
His eyes like stars staring firm

The doorman spins his head and laughs
Catfish in their eveningwear tip their hat
Here comes the mayor stumbling up the path
The front door closes on a scene like that

Chorus:

Gothic southern mystery, undead chateau
Tennessee river hotel open all night
Under the waterline open all the time

- Chris Mansel

untitled

CRush The Blade, Reap The Rust

The Fauna of 1999 (for Mark Eitzel)

I woke up in gasoline
Slightly apart at the seams
Summer flies dark and curious
Exoskeletons and subcutaneous

Cries and moans God is alone
Where the road ends but goes on
Hauling a Cadillac up on the cross
Crying at the labor laughing at the loss

Martin Luther King as a sparrow lands
He picks up the children by the hand
Disappearing into the cascading waterfall
His wings are as wide as they are tall


Chorus:

The fauna of 1999 keeps moving through my dreams
The cadavers of leaves crushing under my teeth
The lacy moths and butterflies keep me coming back


- Chris Mansel

Looking In

Window Series