oración

you are the joke and you are the secret

eight years ago I made an insane gamble — I wrote this song that early spring in a sudden snowstorm, imploring every god and ghost and death-queen I knew for help.

after plenty of blood, sweat, tears, and polyurethane, it turned out brilliantly. I have a small business, a clinic.

now, in order to protect it and those it serves, I must make another insane gamble. perhaps time for this tune again — (and may its melody rain strange boons upon all your mad gambits as well).

—heart flapping wildly like a bird escaped from its cage, foot firmly on the pedal—

---

oración

espiritu santu
dáme la paz
espiritu santu
dáme la paz

santísima muerte
de mi corazón
no me desampares
de tu protección

oh god it’s snowing
open your arms
i’m scared and it’s showing
open your arms

oh holy spirit
who are you anyway?
i hope for & fear it:
that i am here to stay

oh ghosts i’m trying
to listen & do
could somebody help me
to see this thing through?

oh holy death queen
you are my keeper
you are the joke &
you are the secret

i am your servant—
—oh— how the wind blows
i am your— oh— how the wind blows
—oh— how the moon grows

---

.

of note:

• I will be throwing a Romanticon Epiphanies Reading at my space in Chicago. An incredible lineup of readers. Candles, ambient violin, a magical old apothecary. You will not forget this night. Tickets here.

• I’ve mostly been over at my other publication KNOW YOUR RITES doing obsessively deep dives into historical & contemporary rites of passage. I live in stacks of books and 49 open tabs on my browser. I thought I knew a thing or two about these topics, but in fact I knew nothing at all; this has been fascinating and humbling and jaw-dropping. If this project is of interest to you, come keep me company.

xo