for grace darling

(lea) i remember when you wrote this song
how your outside did not match
your inside

how everytime you played a new song youd been working on
i knew your heart

how we'd break down your word choice

"put a copper penny on the tracks now
see what it will do
take all of that curiosity and put it
to some use"

... today
riding the bus
like im half now
half then
half here
half there

its like your words
are caught between worlds

... its not the banjo and the viola
its crystal brinkman and barb...
its not a harmonica and lusty voice
its lea...

its lee's liquor lounge
its minneapolis and seoul
all trapped between my ears
and my seat on the bus
is a booth in lee's

and some voiceover in my head
is your voice
talking about the words you chose
and how you like flattened copper pennies
and how youre wondering if youre ever gonna find

and its the backyard of the barn
and someone's shouting
"play freebird"
and im chanting whining
"blue... play... blueeeeeee"

buildings and construction rise
blue nets to catch the accidental
seoul is rising up around me
and i can smell kimchi
mixed with the smell of city fumes

but my feet feel humid midwest grass

walking to the doctor for my aching body
i'm half planted on the stoop
drinking beer with you

and at the crosswalk

before the light turns green
1,001 faces that ive never seen before
my smoke in their faces

tap my feet and
hit
"repeat"



- kim thompson. thursday 3 june 2010 seoul, s. korea