Lirieke: Mountain Goats, The. Going To Lubbock.

he drove north out of dallas on a tuesday afternoon

the summer wind was sweet in his mouth

as the engine whistled a solitary tune

ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere

among the rocks and the tumbleweeds and the dust

he popped the trunk and he pulled out a shovel

and pumped the dull blade through the earth's tough crust

when he dug up the human skull that was bigger than a basketball

he took one step back

he took one step back

into the sunlight



he stood there by the roadside

underneath the clear blue sky

and ancient stories ran through his mind

as the certain detail caught his eye

there was a pronouned depression along the skull's occipital bone

space burned in the dry june sun

and his forehead dripped like an ice cream cone

he laid the skull down gently in the back seat

and in his mouth the summer wind was sweet

he took one step back

he took one step back

into the sunlight