1. |
pyrrhic victory
00:11
|
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|
i played a game
of tic tac toe
against myself
and lost
...or did i?
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2. |
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|
dearly beloved
we are gathered here today
to commemorate the loss of
fervent wailing
constant reassurance of shortcoming
we are here to flip the tables
selling jewelry forged in failure
in the lobby of our interior temple
how will we cope
without such insightful queries as
"what the fuck is wrong with you?" or
"why can't you be normal?"
in moments of stillness
who will be there to remind us of
every inconvenience we caused?
we have come down here
digging for bones
to match the dental records
of the one who taught us
to gnaw our own legs off
at the first sign of capture
so that when its replacement
arrives at the station
we can meet it there
shake its hand
then kindly
swiftly
push it onto the tracks
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3. |
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|
two probiotic gummies
for life in the body
half an edible
for life in the mind
sit in the darkness
surrounded by boxes
watching the planes take off
this isn't home
but i can
pretend
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4. |
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|
it wasn't cute
i would wake up
look at my phone
for several hours
and then go to bed
(or more precisely, stay)
food and maybe a shower
would happen at some point
hair might even get brushed
teeth too!
but that would be pushing it
my nothing required an artisan's focus
the rigor and commitment i put in
to ensure my nothing got done
rivaled that of renaissance art restoration
or if sisyphus' punishment
was to watch every episode of
Would I Lie to You?
my nothing consumed me
until i learned a trick
to break up the nothing
with somethings
doing the dishes
taking a walk
small islands of productivity
in the vast oceans of ios games
and social media
things to keep my thumbs busy
so my brain could remind me
how disgusting i am
and so the islands
became the distractions
from distraction
until i could find the mainland
nowadays i hardly ever do nothing
not that there's no nothing to be done
i've found a comfortable state
just enough somethings to keep moving
but not enough to justify taking a break
productive
but not exhaustive
(yet)
and i'm ok with that
i do more somethings in a single day
than i ever thought i could
so i'm more than happy
to leave my nothing behind
but every now and then
i wonder
if i left it
incomplete
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5. |
one of many
00:21
|
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|
sometimes it's hard to know
whether to park
further away
and walk
or go closer
and run the risk
of all the spots being full
another conflict
resolved at the crossroads
of human behavior patterns
and one's own agility
|
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6. |
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|
when i have to go
to the mall
on a saturday
in december
during a pandemic
and i pass
the box lunch
(a hot topic wannabe)
and remember
when somebody i loved
very much
used to work there
and how much i loved them then
and what a mistake that was
i think of my dad
who taught me to buffer
the scratches off my car
until they were hidden
and use a touch up pen
to fill in the spots
where the metal was showing
with red paint
so as to not catch the eye
|
||||
7. |
treasure
01:36
|
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|
little plastic rectangle
the shade of lapis lazuli
camouflaged in the asphalt
you have a thought
less intrusive than you'd like
"jackpot"
it passes and you get in your car
you'll be altruistic
leave it so the owner can find it
but then you remember
the truly altruistic thing to do
is to take it
and destroy it
so someone less compassionate
and not much more impulsive
doesn't take it
and use it
an inconvenience
to avoid disaster
you're tense all the way home
it sits on the passenger seat
tantalizing
you know not to put it in your wallet
you tried calling the number on the back
nobody was there
you hope you're doing the right thing
but nothing prepares you for the exhilaration of snipping an EMV chip in half
eight navy shards
hidden in your pocket
righteous contraband
you scatter them across your day
you make a game of it
several garbage cans
multiple locations
until you're free
sometimes i know when the universe is giving me a sign
and sometimes a black cat literally crosses my path
and i have to decide if that's going to genuinely impact
the decisions i make that day
|
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8. |
crossfade
00:34
|
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|
in winter out here
the sky never quite loses its warm pink glow
the clouds carry a dim sheen
like a white shirt you refuse to launder separately
or a TV screen left on too long
looking up at a tiny sliver of moon
against the bright blue sky
like a mouse presses a button
to pump serotonin into her brain
until she starves
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9. |
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|
it wasn't a nightmare
per se
i had a box
separated into sections
like a doll house
and had to guide
all sorts of
spiders
wasps
weird flying ant things
and scorpions
into the different compartments
most of them just came naturally
but i led the snakes
into their sections
by setting cups
on their side before them
so they'd slide right in
(it took some guessing
to see which cups
they would enter
willingly)
so i set the box
in a high high cupboard
and then
my family appeared
all shouting
and laughing
and drinking
and shouting even louder
and when i opened the cupboard
the spiders
and wasps
and weird flying ant things
and scorpions
escaped
but the snakes remained
and that was enough
|
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10. |
||||
|
i brush my hair much more thoroughly now
because if you avoid the parts that hurt
the knots only get worse
i play much simpler chords
when i jam with other people
because if everyone tries to do everything
it's a mess
we keep our trash and recycling bins
out in the garage
because when something stinks
it's better to access it
on purpose
|
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11. |
manual lithops split
00:28
|
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12. |
theme from Sealab 2021
00:46
|
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|
if you're lookin for me
you better check under the sea
cuz that is where you'll find me
underneath the sealab
underneath the water
sealab
at the bottom of the
sealab
underneath the water
sealab
at the bottom of the sea
|
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Pure Mothman Washington
This is the official page for music, sounds, and noises authored or otherwise performed by Jan Davis (user of she/they) and
affiliated merchandise. š¦
Pure Mothman: psychogenic popš
Storm (stylized stārm, st{}rm, stā°rm): cave technoš¦
... more
Pure Mothman recommends:
Ramoncita Light
by Eden Arnold & Carousel Museum
i got to play some keys and sing some vocals on this mammoth track featuring Elephant 6 alums like John Kiran Fernandez, Nesey Gallons, and Teague Cullen.
go to album
Glossolalia II
by This Man and Trees and The Dream Surfers and Flowers
this is the best album of 2023. i sang a little bit on it.
go to album
BEYOND THE EMPTY PROMISE OF SURVIVAL
by DOMESTICATRIX & BLESSENED
made some scary noises for my girlfriend's split which publications have dubbed "genuinely terroristic"
go to albumIf you like Pure Mothman, you may also like:
The gorgeous and gripping new record from Anika Pyle features minimalist folk & pop songs that struggle to make sense of loss.
go to album
This remix LP reframes songs from Dear Noraās āSkull Example,ā sometimes making them sleeker, sometimes disassembling them entirely.
go to album
Broken Politics
by Neneh Cherry
On her collaboration with Four Tet, Neneh Cherry pairs dub and ambient with quietly contemplative lyrics.
go to album
