¤ milky moon ¤

We signal Private Poorwill, when morning starts to loom:
"Pull up from your dive!"
till we hear the telltale Boom,
too soon-
hotdogging loon, caught there
like a shard of mirror in the moon!

I love how Joanna's lyrics take on meaning for me over time bit by bit. Until now the final line in this stanza carried no meaning to me. It sounded kind of nice but was a throw away to me. If any image at all came to my mind it was a ridiculous one of a shard of mirror literally wedged into the moon, stabbing it!

Now I see that its meant to evoke something invisible like a mirror in darkness, suddenly tilting to catch the light of the moon and becoming strikingly visible. It fits the preceding narrative of Private Poorwill perfectly and what has been said by others about the ability of nightjars to remain unseen. And it is such a beautiful image.

They just lay them right there on the ground. Some of them make sort of nests in dead leaves, they're really well camouflaged from above.

Tonight I worked out the chords to this song, & while they don't do the arrangement nearly any justice, it could still be helpful for other folks lookin to cover / play around with this song . . .

Ab Eb Db
Sending the first scouts over,
Ab Eb Db
back from the place beyond the dawn:
Ab Eb Db
Horse, bear your broken soldier,
Ab Eb Db
eyes frozen wide at what went on.
Ab Eb Db
And Time, in our camp, is moving
Ab Eb Db
as you'd anticipate it to.
Ab Eb Db
But what is this sample proving?
Ab Eb Bb Db
Anecdotes cannot say what Time may do.
Fm Ab Eb Ab Ab/G Fm C C/B Am G
C Bb Ab G
I kid with Rufous Nightjar,
Fm Ab
when our men are all asleep:
C Bb Ab G
"It ain't about how rare you are,
Fm Ab
but how hard you are to see.
Eb Ab Ab/G
Take, you and me-"
Fm C C/B
"When are you from?" said he,
Am G
in our blind of winter leaves,
F#m G
as we sighted out their fliers
F#m G
in the grayscale of the night
F#m G
and fumbled on the bare ground
F#m G
to bury round landmines,
A F# Bm C
while the dew lay down and dried.
D C Bb D C Bb D C Bb Ab C/G C

etc. . .

Fm Eb Bb Db
Rushing, tearing, speeding home:
Fm Eb Bb Db
bound to a wheel that is not my own,
Fm Eb Bb Db
where round every bend I long to see
Fm Eb Bb Db
temporal infidelity.

etc. . .

Ab Eb Db
where you will not mark my leaving,
Ab Eb Db
and you will not hear my parting song.
Ab Eb Db
Nor is there cause for grieving.
Ab Eb Bb
Nor is there cause for carrying on.
Ab Eb Db
-and daughter, when you are able,
Ab Eb Db
come down and join! The kettle's on,
Ab Eb Db
and your family's round the table.
Ab Eb Bb Db
Will you come down, before the sun is gone?

Fm Ab Eb Ab Ab/G Fm C C/B Am G
F#m G F#m G F#m G F#m G
A F# Bm C
D Bb D Bb
A F# Bm C
D C Bb Ab C/G C

Anecdotes without orchestral accompaniment:

I can kind of hear how this could be described as Americana now.

This quote reminded me of Anecdotes,

'Let your life dance lightly on the edges of Time, like dew on the tip of a leaf' -Rabindranath Tagore