Dark Tracks

Founded by Blood

I cough when I pass the graveyard. My throat tightens up and I feel cold and wet. Most towns have a grave yard, maybe by the church or tucked out of the way. But our town is a graveyard with people walking around like guilty ghosts. You see our town is founded by blood.

This blood guilt falls most full on Lenny Fookes. I met him as a boy, going to his store to look at his candy. And it was his candy, for he ran his store like some king or duke who had stolen away the kingdom. All in the store was his and when we came, we cowered under the spirit of this man who condescended to us by his mere presence. We respected him and hated him and fell guilty by his mere presence. The only thing that seemed to bring him down to us was his miserable cough.

Lenny’s father had been one of the first men to come to this land. His father was a wild man, but not terribly clever. Lenny’s father owned almost all of the land in these parts and like a bent nail refused to sell off a single piece. He hunted and trapped and scratched by on a meager, but honest living. Lenny’s mother was a pale and proud women; a daughter of some eastern banker. She always called Lenny, by his proper name, Leonard. She expected more from life than anyone could ever give. She wanted Lenny to be educated, but her husband thought this was a waste of time. She hated him for this, but he knew nothing.

One night misty and cold, the old man took Lenny out to check the traps, but never came back.

“Boy – quit lagging behind!”

“I aint’ Pa!”

As they walked, the silence fell over them. The ground was wet and the air was cold.

“Pa, next year you think I could go to school?”

“What do you want to go fool’in with that fo’? School never done nobody good. You just come back think’in you know sumthing, but get lost on the way to the john.”

“But, Mother said that if we sold some land…”

“Shut-up! What do yer mother know? She’s just a stupid spoiled heifer. Don’t go listening to her fool ideas.”

And as they walked, the silence went on.

“Here, make yourself useful. I’m gonna climb down this ravine and check them traps,” Pa said as he handed Lenny the gun. “Don’t let ‘er touch the ground. It’be just like yer stupid mother’s child to drop that gun.”

And according to Lenny, when Pa handed over the gun it went off. And the blast killed the old man. It was all a big accident. Of course none of this came out right away, because the body wasn’t found for a couple of days. Lenny stayed out in the woods wandering around in the belly of his guilt. Everyone says that it rained the whole time. Lenny was out in the cold rain for nearly three days. When he was found, the blood had soaked through with the rain and left his shirt a pale pink. This is when he started to cough.
It wasn’t until the body was found that questions were raised. They took Lenny in, but the details never matched up with his story. And it seemed like the longer they questioned him the more he coughed. Everyone talked about how guilty Lenny seemed; but slowly, one by one, nobody talked about it. If anyone brought it up, only a guilty silence hung over the group. Soon no one brought it up.

Lenny never got over his cough, but at the end of the year he went away to school. Most people sort of forgot about the whole ordeal. It was while Lenny was at school, that the town really grew. Most everything was built during this time except for the saloon which was already here. Everyone seemed to be doing well.

But in four years Lenny came back and opened up his drug store. When people went to say hello he glowered at them from his corner. He acted triumphant as if he had beaten us in battle. He acted better than us.

Once, someone asked him about his father.

“What do you care? Your folks are living on my old man’s land.” he coughed out.

And we were silenced by this. You see in the years following the old man’s death Lenny’s mother had sold off nearly all of the land. And the entire town knew that Lenny was as guilty as hell, but we had bought a piece of his guilt when we bought our land. So now we go to his store and buy our medicines, listening to him cough. We tolerate the condescension and share in the guilt because we know that we are as low down and dirty as everyone else in this God forsaken town.

When Lenny Fookes died they buried him next to his ma and pa. It’s a wonder that anyone came to the funeral because it rained the whole day, but curiosity and death always draw a crowd. Thirteen people got sick afterwards. I suppose that when the grave finally swallowed Lenny he got some peace from all his coughing. But even now when you go down to the graveyard you can feel the dampness. The temperature drops and your hair stands on end. As you walk you can hear what sounds like coughing. And if you linger the mists will wrap around your throat and the guilt will rise to choke you out of the land of the living…

Story by Joseph Kotulski

Mushroom Tree…

Photograph by Joseph Kotulski

When You Bury A Man

When You Bury a Man (right click to save)

Roll his body over
Fore you put him in the ground
Never bury a man
With his nose pointing down

Don’t you know nothing
Don’t you know nothing
Don’t you know nothing
You gotta bury a man
With his eyes to the sky

Let your eyes cry
When you put that man down
Never bury a man
Without your tears on the ground

Don’t you know nothing
Don’t you know nothing
Don’t you know nothing
When you bury a man
You gotta let your eyes cry

Say a kind word
When he’s down in the ground
Never bury a man
Without a friendly sound

Don’t you know nothing
Don’t you know nothing
Don’t you know nothing
You gotta bury a man
Then wish him the best

Walk from his grave
Feeling death in your bones
Never bury a man
Without thinking of home

Don’t you know nothing
Don’t you know nothing
Don’t you know nothing
When you bury a man
You’re gonna follow him down

Lyrics by Ian North
Music by Jonathan Kotulski

The Moles And The Bats

The Moles and The Bats (right click to save file)
enter the Rock,
and Hide in the Dust,
from the Terror of the Lord  [Isaiah 2:10]
 
In the day men Cast Away
the Works of their hands
to the Moles and the Bats [Isaiah 2:20]
 
you will be Embarrassed
at the Gardens you have Chosen
the gardens with no Water
you are the garden with no water  [Isaiah 1:29-31]
 
you have Become your desire [Isaiah 1:29-30]
you will not Stunt the Spark
your garden will Catch Fire [Isaiah 1:31]
 
your Work and your Desire
will Burn Up with you
an Unceasing Fire [Isaiah 1:31]
 
In the Day men cast away
the works of their Hands
to the Moles and the Bats [Isaiah 2:20]

Lyrics by the prophet Isaiah
Music by Jonathan Kotulski

Road’s Been Closed for Years

our sign into town says, “Road Closed”.
all our folk know this isn’t so, but it keeps out those
we’d rather not know
the 39 bullet holes
are for any others
who just might get lost
turn back
just because

Ghostly Tree Fallen Over Winter