Great Ghosts - Mount Eerie

I had my hopes of how I would be

After living in exile

After closing your eyes to me

I even wrote scenes where I reemerged boldly

Bearded, alive, with eskimo eyes

New baby on my back, but from where?

But I didn’t count the fact that I have ghosts in my mind

Stowaways.

Great ghosts of my life

Great ghosts of old wives

And they’re howling!

So I spent my wilderness time rolling on the ground

Pulling my hair, and wrestling them off

Yelling at no one, punching snow

I gathered ghosts and gave them my lecture

I bid them away, I pleaded and cried.

I said,

There’s no room in my life for you, or you,

or your howling!

Let me undo these ropes and go on living without you

Not just change where we live

Go on get, I said

I had my hopes about how I would be after sending them off

After getting set free

But there’s no such thing as living

Without their prowling

As you can see, having descended the hill

I still look like me

I still wallow like Phil

And forever will

I’m teeming with ghosts and I’m still whining for wives

Knitting my brow

But now I’ve surrendered

In fact, I have joined in

Hear us howling!