Two Hymns

And alzheimer's, covid, cops, coups, firearms, fascism, elections, etc.

Here I offer songs and stories. Or canciones y contexto. Two tunes that I had on repeat in autumn 2020 as I was deciding to end my first stint here in Buenos Aires and move back stateside to join the George Floyd protests I’d seen being brutalized for months, to brace for how ugly things could conceivably get around and after the presidential election, and to help my mom address the early-onset Alzheimer’s that was coming on strong.

1) Mama Smoke, Mountain Goats, George Floyd, Donald Trump, The Chariot, Chicago, Cleveland, CABA, Club Atlético:

2) Doomed struggle, Sisyphus, staying alive and free:

Stick your tongue out
Catch the pieces as they drift down the air
I am too slow to catch them all
But not too far gone to care

Wet your finger
Place it toward the wind
Feel disaster in the air
We are far too slow to outrun it now
But not too far gone to care

I found the answer
Open your hands
Reach out
This is enough

Don’t set the sun
Or let hearts grow dim
Return back to the hill
That you left
With the city in your hands
And if nothing’s left
The forest marches on
Forget not who you are

Thank you for your interest friends and enemies and internet strangers.