I am warped
I am wrapped
cs I warble my song
cs I wobble my gait to the edge
of the Great Plain in Red Cloud

I am tainted
I am taught
To be tough
To be raw
To be ruined
To be wrecked
Like the women whose aching backs
and blistered skin make me coffee and burnt bread

In Red Cloud
In Red Cloud

I am pulled to the poppies by my pony and poison
With my pulse comes a promise
I'm a pioneer
Young girls braid their hair like straw into baskets
"with baskets come bounty"
They say
They prey as they fall into sleep
Dream of Red Cloud

In Red Cloud
In Red Cloud

Of stone and spirit I haunt the dead
My name, my lips, my swollen heart and hips
I breathe in dust and blow out steam
Like the engine that rolls on a crooked track
that hauls along lost pocket clocks and cents singing cycles
In song
c loop, in ink, on my palm
The name and number I could call
To break the spell
To break the lock
This chain is linked by much more than iron
and I've watched how hot tears melt metal before

I make a stew with rain water and frozen meat
Thick with pine needles
Warm beer and baby teeth
I suck it down in spoonfuls
I go to sleep dumb and halved
Vibrating in circles
In circuits I wake up dizzy In

Red Cloud
Red Cloud
Red Cloud