Track 02: Walk fast, whistle

Album: Walk Fast, Whistle

Prev 01: January
Next 03: This one goes out to

Lyrics

walk fast, whistle
cock your ears and listen
hold your line
hold your own
wind the window down
tap the beat on the wheel
look up, greet
touch a hand and feel
float a thought
to the rafters
smile at strangers
do not diet
don’t be quiet
eat tomato sauce
do not hold back a tear
drink beer
do not drink and drive
talk less about yourself
talk less
mess up, apologize
eat pie
humble pie
open your eyes
look inside your friends
and ask them how they are
take a trip round the darkest bends
together, tracking the trail
of the wandering star
to as far as the road goes
the ship would sail
the story slows
hits a sandbank
and the phosphorescence
in the water glows
and grows a blanket of silence
in which you can be wrapped
rapapapapap-rapapapap
sometimes be quiet for an hour
sit in the veld and observe
if not ants, birds
if not birds, bats
if not bats, buck
pick up pretty stones
and twisted roots
seed pods and mice skulls
carry them home
arrange them on the sill
trace their outlines
against the days of life
lemonade, cold
tea, slowly
coffee, with a rusk
write with a pen on paper
purchase pencils
postcards to distant friends
travel alone
travel far
travel to the point
where you swivel on your heel
and remember where you come from
who you are
why you came
phone your parents
phone your siblings
phone your school friends
phone your sick friends
phone your friends with children
sometimes, switch off your phone for a week
do not check email
do not use a computer
sleep for twelve hours
three days in a row
until your dreams return
read a thick book
a 1000-page book
a book with difficult words in it
a book with an open ending
Roberto Bolaño’s book
walk around the house
in your underpants
or naked
without drawing the curtains
do push-ups, run
when the wind blows strongly
lean into it
and open your arms like an albatross
burp, fart, shit
pee outside
and especially, next to highways
wipe your bum
with something other than toilet paper
buy the newspaper
even if you don’t read it
support the idea of a poem
write poems, bad or good,
hidden or shown
purchase binoculars, study birds
investigate trees
consider different types of grass
stop by a road-cutting
and look at the layers of rock
picnic, own a thermos
wrap sandwiches in foil
eat peanut butter from the jar
drop it like it’s hot
drink coca cola
when it’s hot
drool on your pillow
dance
laugh
cry
cut the shit
dislike money
donate money
spend money
earn money
look after money
but dislike money
do something you like
if it’s an office job
remember who’s the boss
and who’s in charge
and that you’re the latter
swim in the sea
or in a river
or a farm dam
hold your breath for a long time
open your eyes underwater
float on your back
close your eyes
listen to the sound in your ears
the slow, dark, deathly croak
of your brittle body’s
cooked and cracked
organs and bones
slowly paddle back
to where you can stand
look at the person
waiting there
walk over
kiss her