january 24
i used to drag my family
on tours of a cemetery
in batavia, new york
drawn to the headstones
of children with echoes
of the fun that they used to play
toys that would litter
the grass and the marble
said more than the epitaph may
with trees covered in wind chimes
and the quiet of midnight
peaceful
in the middle of the day
pay me a tribute in permanent marker
on a bench, by the lake, with a view
miss me only enough that you can still
get through the day
but never let the grief consume
and when you notice the stars for the first time
when you look at the sky and ask them why
i hope you remember they pay us no mind
and let me go
the man on the corner
always smoked on a schedule
he'd wave but never said much
got up in the middle of the night
left the bed, left his wife
to inhale a nicotine dream
it was cold, 3am, and January
when the heart attack hit
disoriented and bleeding
he crawled down the driveway and settled
under the light (all night)
his wife woke up, an empty bed,
concerned and wondering where he went
she found him barely alive
and in the morning he was declared
with vital signs too low to save
my mom met up with a neighbour
to scrub the blood away
pay me a tribute in scratched away bark
in a forest, in the night time, with a view
miss me only enough that you can still
get through the day
but never let the grief consume
and when you notice the stars the first time
when you look at the sky and ask them why
i hope you remember that they pay us no mind
and let me go
oh, let me go
✒️ Somewhere on my computer, buried in the depths of a much longer story, is a band called Spinster Youth. One of their albums is titled January 24 and the this is the title track. The rest of the song lyrics and the CD booklet itself also exists and will probably make it here one day.