Falling in place (2025) - R34L

ELEVATION

elevation
so high above it all
can I stay here forever
the chatter I can see it all
so clear from here
elevation falling from me
elevation falling from me
elevation falling from me
and I meet myself again

Two

I know you’ve been walking for a long while

I look at myself
and i’m not sure if it’s me
I look at myself
and i’m not sure if it’s me
I look at myself
(two two)
and I’m not sure if it’s me
I see it in you too (two two two two two two)

Always

woke up today
feeling like a mountain
at the bottom of the ocean
but when the sun goes down I feel-
the hours go so slowly
it’s all too old
like nothing I hear it always
know it when you see it
I came to you just to tell you
just to tell you oh
you know I love you all ways
always
know I love you all ways
all ways
you know I love you always

Forbidden knots

some object
some net
holds you together
one day lost to the weather
one night before
you could fall apart
you could fall—
some context
some map
holds you together
one day lost to the weather
one night before
you could fall apart
you could fall—
the decision to leave everything
to climb the mountain solo
the distraction
from the distraction
some forbidden knot
ties me to you
i’m untied
ties me to you
some forbidden knot
some forbidden knot
i’m untied
ties me to you

perfume

a man in a white jacket
told me he could fix me
with a single knife of light
you could see forever
a perfectly defined world
as sharp as a diamond
for a moment I considered
fearing the day I would lose my glasses
and exist forever in a world without edges
while other knew no different

wish I could show you
a watercolor autumn
wish you could know
the feeling of softness
gentle lines
and moving lights
like bursting stars in orbit
wish I could show you the streets
as they melt into the trees
and their shadows become unpinned
to smudge and soften as they please
the pastel of spring without edges or angles
and the muscles in my eyes too
becoming liquid
pocked skin
cracked sidewalks
become new again
smooth as the day they entered this world
with a dreamy glow
like a fine powder
that swims out of the flour jar
near the window in the kitchen
I want to show you what it’s like
to take off my glasses
and lose my body
like perfume in a room
say it could be fixed
want you to see
this delicate world
I keep in my pocket
that I may return to
when I feel myself
hardening

OPen arms

lay in my bed
head near the window
jaundice sky
old cars moan like whales
while I float in my bed
an anchored boat
before the sky opens its arms
before the sky opens its arms
to pound water on the city below
in stormy weather is where I feel home

up on the L tracks
hugging a backpack
rails roar like a 10 ft wave
bitter wind-battered faces
smiling past me
into an ocean of grey
before the sky opens its arms
before the sky opens its arms
to pound water on the city below
in stormy weather is where I feel home

in stromy weather
in stormy weather
before the stars open their arms
hiding in the glow of the streetlights below
in stormy weather
is when I feel home
in stormy weather
is where I feel hope
in stormy weather is where I feel home

PHASE RESET (2021) - R34L, MARK PISTEL

scatter

certainty
flies away from me
circuitry
waves hungering
to be
to be
and I’ll pass the day
staring sideways
to breath and I’m
intertwined
tumbling
cascades
certainty
flies away from me

another ride
another sigh
you repeater
another ride
another Sight
you receiver

to be
and I’ll pass the day
staring sideways
to breath and I’m
intertwined
tumbling
cascades
certainty
flies away from me

who’s the surfer

folded
four dimensions
pretty package
growing information
little voyage
collapse
collapse into
into you, into you, into you
collapse

method
some experience dark observer
question
what’s the wave and who’s the surfer
lesson
number it and call it lemon
listen…

collapse into
into you, into you, into you
collapse

folded
four dimensions
pretty package
growing information
little voyage

to let go

climb
combine
I’m a wave
I’m a surfer
I’m afraid

I’m a wave
I’m a surfer
I’m a phase

To let go

To let go
one two let go
of the way that you came
and where you go
to let go, to let go
of the way that we came
and where we’ll go
to let go, to let go

of the way that we came
and then in tow to let go

like a wave
climb
combine
I’m a wave
I’m a surfer
I’m a phase

WHAT IS (2019) - R34L

falling in place

finding my way (down)
finding my way (down)
in freefall
finding my way
don’t look down—
don’t look down—
finding my way (down)
finding my way (down)
lying on the ground

new ways

I need a new way 
to live
another way I didn't see it 
in the hustle of a minute
a new walk 
new thought
think you know just what I mean 
but you won't know it till you say it-
would you do what-
you'd do what?
everything we could do better 
when we pull it all together
cold days 
slow worry through the movie
agaze
daydreaming of another play
cold winds
I hear them fight for importance
eventually they retreat

leaving me (eventually they retreat)
leaving me to breathe in a new way
new waves, new ways, new days
cold winds old ways fade they could never stay

we're making new waves I need a new way 
I need a new way I need a new-
I need a new way (could never stay)

We're making new
making new waves
We're making new
making new ways

Cold winds I hear them fight for importance
eventually they retreat leaving me 
to be free, new ways, new waves, new days, cold winds old waves dead and there to stay

We're making new
making new ways
We're making new
making new waves

return

oooooh
(come back)
How do you
go forward
how do you
turn over
Return return return return—
Return return return return—
It all returns, returns, returns into you
into me see through you see through me
Return return return return
It all returns, returns, returns, return
Guess I’ll have to come back maybe
Guess I’ll have to come back (maybe)
Guess I’ll have to come back
How do you go forward
how do you
turn over
Return return return return—
Return return return return—
It all returns, returns, returns

Carousel sun

too long I waited tracing a line
too long I wished for
a belt on the ride and how many circles
can turn off the light in my eye
watering eyes turmoil-tied
adrenaline high
no slowing you down
cut from the ground
balloon unbound
where does it all start
spinning one hot star everything gathers
everyone gather come feel
your gravity
your gravity
your gravity
on this carousel sun
on this carousel sun
I can feel my legs go numb
On this carousel sun
On this carousel sun
I can feel my skin go numb
I can feel your gravity
two stops you stopped fast
facing a line
to follow or veer from—
top on its side
how many surfaces and reflect at night
and how many certainties
can turn off the light in my eye
in my eye in my mind in my eye in my mind

watering eyes turmoil-tied
adrenaline high
no slowing you down
cut from the ground
balloon unbound
where does it all start
spinning one hot star everything gathers
everyone gather come feel
your gravity
your gravity
your gravity
on this carousel sun
on this carousel sun
I can feel my legs go numb
On this carousel sun
On this carousel sun
I can feel your gravity

Into dust

liquid light
pours through leaded panes
flowers twist and tease
from the ceiling
shimmering
in flecks of gold
tumbling in summersaults
like me oh I am weightless
me I swim into a single speck of gold awakened from the floor
by the presence—
with every breath
dizzy from the path
slow hot brush strokes
pink and blue ribbons
before the sky is molten
Into dust to dust to dust
In the dust the dust the dust
like me oh I am weightless

phase reset

out of phase
out of phase
out of phase
So it seems

sometimes I cry when i’m happy
run when my legs feel like rags
out of phase
out of phase
out of phase
So it seems

sometimes, sometimes
sometimes I feel like a lightning bug
hauling the sun on my back
sometimes I crack
Like an icy path
under the weight
of my own tracks
sometimes, sometimes, sometimes
out of phase
sometimes sometimes sometimes
out of phase

sometimes, sometimes
And then sometimes 
we reset

chaos game

pyramid
bubble bath
rainbow thunder
orange jam
eggshell on display
striped suit
chugging train

ever interval
every quick rotation
up and down
tennis ball
everyone’s occasion
in a gust of wind
spinning aberration
up and down
swings a plane
in a noir narration
chaos game, chaos game

a trick of light, an iridescent fog
while you stand by
standing at the edge of the flood

skyscraper
bumble bee
rocking table
orange tree
seashell
on display
striped suit
chugging train

a trick of light, an iridescent fog
while you stand by
standing at the edge of the chaos game
chase game

shark tooth, mouse track, waterfall
shopping mall, soda spray, spider sack
open sail, rusted nail, rubberband
cupped hand, marble mine, sour lime,
quail egg, hurricane, striped suit, chugging train

chaos game, chaos game

Sleep Games

little tangled wires
Beads along a string
Blinded we’re trembling
Black bag of diamonds
not quite what they seem
Light shadow

and then a drop is but a flower
there for a week and then
the belly of a deer and then
the well below the pier and
air and air and Air and
in your glass I see it appear in

little tangled wires
beats along a street
Flying in company

Clouds

fade into…
creatures…walk the earth
Fade into….
you hold my head up on the clouds
fade into…
dark…
perceptions…
race through…
space…
inceptions…
you hold my head up and on the clouds
dig or you will be dug up
push or you will be pulled over

Peakaboo

faster than the sky
throws a yellow ball
across my eyes
it’s quicker than the fox following
the heaving breath of the mellow pale blind old mouse
carrying his weight in dirty handfuls
hurry man there’s a wave
coming your way 

and I will sing
sing to the angels of strangers
faces in a dream
as they visit and quickly recede
into the whole of me
written in history

louder than the crack
of the hollow tree
against the quiet night
thirty flocks go by
the fireworks of fighting arms
and feathers by and by
carrying the weight on their shoulders
singing sweet lullabies 

faster than the sky
throws a yellow ball
across my eyes
quicker than the fox following the faces
as they visit
[hurry man there’s a wave]

AH.E.I.O.You

by day
all of you
all of you hear it
[listen listen]
every interlude we sip it slow
every little bend and articulation
every little break and anticipation
did I hear you speak or did the words just come from—
just a whistle carried by the breeze
just a whistle brought me to my knees

by day
all of you
all of you hear it
[listen listen]
every Little break and anticipation
every little break every little patience
[all of our windows converge…into a shifting room]

Push to Ten

one room
one room that you came from
one light burns low…
Although you wept to the sound
one light like your song
Leads me on
over when the day—
over when the day—
you don’t notice—
notice all the same things

what are your thoughts?
do you ever need—
by [buy] your fire
piece [peace] or more?
what do you want

Are You Real

run
you can’t
you can’t run
you can’t run from time

who are you now?
who are you now?
you can’t run from time.

all I ever wanted was another day
all I ever needed was someone to say
you can’t run from time.

are you one
are you here
are you real
are you now
are you one
are you here
are you now
are you here
[You can’t run from time]

Possibility

possibility
an origami Chimera
…the scientist was right…
do you understand what you are?
trust me
trust me
TRUST ME
[get footage of Reese Witherspoon]
gone
[three and a half billion people]
What is forever?

trust me
trust me, there is only love (translated - multiple languages)
[there is no time]
trust me
[there is no time]
is it important?
do I even know what green is?
Are you hungry?
do you understand what you are?

trust me
a glass room sailing
trust me
nothing is here