Birdfeeders Lyrics

for my grandfather, Walter Helgeland.
lyrics
so we do not lose heart
we do not catch fire
we disarm our flintlock rifles
lay them on the sailors' graves
up in your hot air balloon
each roof sings a photograph
mapped out into perfect paths
of suburban woven streets

songs out of bee stung palms,
songs out of symphonies,
songs stuck like pins & needles
and your above ground pool

songs like Rachmaninoff
songs like I've heard enough,
please cut loose the sandbags
holding me down to the ground
we do not lose heart
we do not catch fire
we fill up the bird feeder
until the birds come back again

rust colored lungs that I will leave
in the mailbox of your house
on your porch inside a wicker bassinet

hollow a s***e out of my chest
if your mailbox is your heart
if your porch anchored this chaos family
hearts will run out
lungs will collapse
bodies will fall so frail when they come up against love

we do not lose heart
we do not catch fire
we fill up the bird feeders
until the birds come back again
credits
from Canary in a Coal Mine, released 28 February 2012
Anna Vogelzang: Ukulele, Vocals, Metallophone, Organ
Joseph Arnold: Fiddle