Ghostlimb - Infrastructure

Ghostlimb
Infrastructure
2011

Content
Construction
The truth of the matter is
anything is possible
had you not seen it all from birth
and bled it of its strangeness
it would appear for what it is
a fetishized novelty
a fevered dream
having neither analogue
nor precedent
(it's not constrained by any latitude )
the order in the air you see
is only what you put there
like a string in a maze so you don't lose your way
and although I want it to
reason can't always be
that eagle clutching a paralytic snake

Concrete
Now just an ideal
unmitigated by the reality of a living person
there's so much to be said for commitment
she worked the years
into a solid brick of meaning
forged with the mortar of doubt
and human imperfection
forged with the mortar of doubt and human imperfection
she wouldn't wait for the "right" conditions
but decided to facilitate them
we can't wait for the "right" conditions
but rather
we must create them
and everyday that picture stares down at me from the wall and says
I may not have always been right
but there's so much to be said for commitment

Extreme Duress
In our unpaid debt to the future
liability grows in exponent
or will I just look back to suture
gaping wounds of impropriety
as grasping lungs grow older
do they lose the boiling blood
for the street fight the late night
where every breath that is drawn is drawn
to keep on breathing
or is the song of peace a tune
I only half understand
first world
first hand
and as a limited experience
the next generation can with a clear conscience say
we've learned this backward
we've had enough
but the question still comes up
in that split second when things get rough

Biota
Of wasted efforts that counter process
rethink what "safe" means because I don't believe
it for a moment
the cost is profound
the cost is rotten
no potential for coexistence
for a new structure with given current guidelines of belief
that constrain us dictate separation
where all species' links get swept away unrecognized
and greater impacts
question our efforts
in light of facts that disagree

Reduction
Since the tide of yore
and long gone before
from the crowded nursery
to troughs and cresting waves
in a sea of shit
our potentes carry us along
until we don't even know
if it's the carrot or stick
we're being beaten with
can you quantify your use
or qualify your subsistence
the bottom demands action
in the oil spread
over troubled waters
in the jobless city
in the depressed polity
frustration is the thesis
browbeat back by force
the bruised and battered corpse
of the every (wo)man

Asphalt
Every kid I ever was
would cringe at the predicament
and every man I've ever been
would laugh at the experience because I know
that risk and desire go hand in hand
sometimes the cost of autonomy is suffering
when I looked down at bare feet
and see only asphalt beneath
that gravel ridden voice
echoed booming in my ears
"we're all flesh and bone
in a vessel so exposed"
to recognize and appreciate that crash into uncertainty

Unending Ache
As time went by
slowly by the businesses sprang up and preyed upon
the postwar surplus crumpled in our gloves
oh what a glorious experience
an ineffable gift
your eyes and ears constantly barraged
and smeared shut with shit
we are happy to fuel a culture industry
in need of new product
when a flash in the pan misses the synapse of appeal
way up in the ether of simulation and the real
until my overloaded ears close shut
and my heat dissipates just enough
I'll have the same unending ache
I'll have the same unending ache of dissent and disgust

Incomplete Works
If it's not waiting
then it is certainly this
that sits with a crown atop an
ever lengthening list
of things
I can't fucking stand
it's the deficit of time
we never know how much we've got left
so I'm going to take this life and beat it to death
if you count yourself with the bored and barely living then do so
the deepest water in the cistern of self-deception wells up
the fear of communicating exactly what you mean
while some people leave for "heaven" with no warning
and they're filling body bags on every corner on every street
this consumes me

Traverse
Having no idea that their friend was dead
the three of them went hard as they could
into the desert before
fire rained down on their heads
what could they have done
to deserve this treatment
for every debt and deal we make under false pretense
it's an account receivable in someone else's blood
we're all familiar
that the aim of power
is to retain power
in the process
those on ground level become the ochre mortar
bonding detritus
together
twenty four months later
eight thousand miles away
endless chances lost
what can be said
but forced apologies

Substructure
In the codex of memory
the foundation the basement floor
the contraband we carry
around in our heads
the empirical
raw material
and after all I'm a surveyor's son
trying to make sense of the same warped projections
reality redacted to our needs
a human artifice on physical space
and after all I'm a woman's son
trying to stay right in a world made for sons
a privileged recognition
to lift my feet from the dregs of all that's passed
there's never a second chance to do what should be done
there's never a second chance to do what should be done

Eight
Our bodies talk and we listen
of inopportune and forced decisions
they'd disinfect and in darkness scrub clean
but it's all over the air and under sheets
you say the very fiber of my emotion is suspect
and I say the very basis of your fundamentalism is neglect
of anyone who disagrees or follows a path distinctively
while you indulge the limbs of dismembered poets
with no cultural or temporal context
and where the ruts in your mind
wreathed in glowing light
are accepted
and where our progeny live on
to see the long unset sun of injustice
dignity is not yours for the taking

Context
Construction
Rational objectivity and reason are important cantilevers in society. Cultural constructs are built over centuries, influenced by things as disparate as religion, ritual, fear, ideas of providence, etc. In an illogical world, these things give people some type of comforted footing. Although I invariably side with reason, the placating web of convention does not provide answers as an end-all, and at many times is contrary to rationality; thus it should be examined with the same critical eye.
Concrete
Objects of personality cults and political radicals often emerge after their deaths as an image of what people later decide they represent. This isn't necessarily contrived, but happens particularly in instances where they have died unnaturally, becoming a martyr of sorts. Often the legacy of a person decades or millennia later will only come down to one short phrase or an easy quotation, reducing their achievements, loves, good decisions and bad decisions to an informed conversational footnote. In this case, the subject is Ulrike Meinhof. Outside of the hatred or glamour she garnered over the course of her entire career as first as a respected writer and later, fugitive, the thing that stood out most to me was her intense dedication.
Extreme Duress
The efficacy and causes of violence will forever be debated, but in many parts of the United States, I think it is fair to point out our limited exposure to the violence seen daily in war-torn areas all over the world. It is perhaps important to think about "first world" misconceptions of large-scale violence as something often perpetrated at a great distance to people you will probably never meet and who are completely unlike you. This is simply not true and engenders an irresponsible separation of humanity along borderlines.
Biota
In fields relating to land use planning, conservation and ecology, there are frequent discussions of the importance of "sustainability" and "biodiversity." There is a shortage of dialogue and research in understanding how the human role, as a supportive component, interprets the need for the systematic aspects of ecosystems. Without the presence of top-level predators, there is a critical shortage of checks and balances in the trophic order. As growth patterns characterized by suburbanization/urbanization cause ecosystems to evolve and adapt, wildlife population dynamics often experience negative effects without the megafaunal predators that humankind has selectively exterminated for generations. A question that we need to explore is the degree of ecosystem sustainability that we strive to support. If we are not willing to live side-by-side with top-level predatory wildlife species, yet we still aim to support a decidedly selective biodiversity, we nominate ourselves to be a replacement to the evolutionary controls that have developed over time. It is important to recognize the degree of hubris that is present in this mentality, as it is not clear whether we are even capable of serving as a substitute for the many complex indirect/direct relationships that exist between species in ecosystems that benefit from a complete trophic order. Urban ecology is important to understand as we reevaluate our direction; where we aim to improve our developments and infrastructure in order to work towards a more equitable existence.
Reduction
Economic fraud can only go so far before it collapses under its own weight. Due to both overstretched means, advantage manipulated from the top and systemic provocation of cut-and-run ethics, we end up back where every "depression" rests: at the expense of the people who cannot pay for it. So, now universities and state nonprofit subsidies — as well as personal financial security — are set back years because of easily navigable loopholes. Frustration is the thesis when subsistence wages and "getting by" are the standard.
Asphalt
We are a product of experiences and learning during times of stress and adversity. In order to accomplish objectives and get things done, we make sacrifices that only make sense in hindsight, creating a situation of persistent risk that may only have a payoff in the future. In light of this, our perceptions of self change gradually and invariably over time, leading at least to some appreciation of the formative learning when things turn out a lot worse than you would have imagined. These are also some of the thoughts going through my head whilst sliding on my stomach down the freeway after some snide prick cut me off going 65 mph on my motorcycle.
Unending Ache
After World War II, a growing economy helped produce a new youth culture eager to spend their disposable income. Fortunately, the 60-year business grab known as "the music industry," which arose to manipulate and take advantage of this, has hit a figurative brick wall. The use of different media outlets has allowed a more horizontal situation to develop where people can bypass a large portion of the smarmy bastards who continue to control the garbage foisted upon us as music. Hopefully, the continuity of cooperation, direct control and participation will keep the supportive network alive the world over.
Incomplete Works
If there is something positive to be said for progress in interpersonal relations, few things are more frustratingly crippling than passive aggression. As we navigate through our lives, credit is due when we are able to communicate with each other with some humility, patience and effort. When people are unwilling to speak their minds, even to their own "friends," it leads to a dissonance that erodes the relationship, sometimes irreparably, and kicks the knees out of any and all collective effort. Ultimately, not only is the situation made more difficult, but the individual is harmed internally by the impossibility of any resolution.
Traverse
Whatever way an occupying force attempts to subvert its enemy will undoubtedly result in at least some level of collateral damage, surfacing in the form of accidental deaths, detainment and even friendly fire. This addresses those whose liberties are suspended and lives forever changed during times of deferred civil law.
Substructure
In 1844 Heinrich Heine wrote: "Ye fools, so closely to search my trunk! Ye will find in it really nothing: My contraband goods I carry about in my head, not hid in my clothing." To me this brings up the formidable nature of ideas and memory. Ideas are intangible and cannot be seized or searched through like so much baggage, regardless of their seditious nature or illegality. They maintain fluidity outside of the bonds of simple belief. Similarly, memory is a realm that can be shared, but is truly singular in the mind of those who experienced it, resurfacing in reflection or sensual impetus. What is a psyche but the memories and ideas stored away in the recesses of our brains? The human mind is unbelievably strong and complex; the question is how we will employ this capability.
Eight
California, supposedly one of the most liberal places in the United States, has recently fought over the ability of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people to wed and retain familial rights under law. The campaign for Proposition 8 was backed and created by a large, well-funded and well-organized conservative right coalition. Armed with out-of-context Biblical references, improperly-quoted Constitutional statements and a mess of cash, they aimed to bar their opponents from besmirching a ritual sanctity a lot of people aren't all that interested in anyways. There are no valid grounds for denying others civil rights, this conversation should not even exist and those "valiantly" fighting against the sexuality, livelihood and security of others who can aptly govern themselves would act very different if the roles were reversed.
Plastic Surgery
by Leatherface on the album Dog Disco.

Justin, Neal, Alex
Recorded Dec 27-28, 2010 by Jack Shirley at the Atomic Garden.
Contact: info@vitriolrecords.com
Information: www.vitriolrecords.com