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Winter King

by Tyler Butler

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1.
Barghest 04:27
If there is that which makes you frightened, it is the coming of the darkness. If in the crowded remembrance we are good and pure. She said: “I saw your brother drowning, I saw his eyes wide in the water and with a whisper he spoke out, ‘I curse you still.’” And coming to the cabin, you are barefoot and scented. The dog is coming up the hillside. You are always running. If there is that which makes you frightened, it is the coming of the darkness. If in the crowded remembrance we are good and pure.
2.
Morana 04:36
I fell asleep with my hand on her bottom and my fingers caught up in her hair. She woke up fattened and brimming with anger, her strange face unknowing and scared. All of her neighbours were quick in the building; she watched their stairs fall from the banks. But she was a lover of sturdy lumber with a crown of wild forest hair. I want a wife who is stern and steady and forgives me everything. In the winter she’ll be swollen with child and swing her hips in front of me. All of her lovers are stern in the taking. Her daughters bear various names. But she’ll be mother to all of my children and she’ll be all that I take.
3.
Child-Ghost 05:44
It seems long ago that we ended the winter and spoke of the women we loved. We’d been to the market, you called me a sailor, we spent all our money on wine. Many times we’ve been drinking, many times we’re alone. We are shaped by the distance, but your letters still come. Last night you dreamt of your daughter born as a woman in front of your eyes. The old dream that haunts you, straight-haired she carries the muscles and bones of your wife. You have been left horned, old brother of mine. And chased by a child-ghost cannot sleep through the night. It’s early in winter, my dear wounded brother. Sleep and be slow in your rise. A year since she left you be sleeping in bedrooms and paint every woman you find. And spreading your oils, be quick to fall in love. We are shaped by our drinking, but your letters still come.
4.
You swept through this house picking summer colours in a baggy t-shirt. You said: “How can we keep out the winter with such bare walls?” And we shot our mouths into the water while your eyes caught firework sparks and your cheeks had painted-on freckles that left yellow streaks when I wiped them off.
5.
Waxwing 04:29
The last time that we talked the leaves had just started to change and we passed the porcelain cups of coffee over eggs. And the first time that I met you, we ran our expectations to the ground and we wore them to the smallest bit of thievery that we could. So wash me in the water where you washed your dirty daughter and I’ll be white as the winter and the birds that stay here. I drank myself childish for two days while you got dry. In the vineyards, covered in dust, they called St. Urban to keep me at bay and parched by the red earth they judged the weather by the day and for August I cried out: “Oh Lord, Oh Lord, Oh Lord, why me?” So wash me in the water where you washed your dirty daughter and I’ll be white as the winter and the birds that stay here.
6.
Kingfisher 03:13
The last time we talked, you didn’t have much to say. You were feeling the weight of your eyes. We’d been to the art store. Your hand on your glass left fingerprints in condensation. It was early Friday evening; the sun was just setting; we went driving too fast with cigarettes burning, our mouths shaping women — we are loose with our words passing long-distance runners on the side of the road because it’s early in the evening; the sun is just setting; we are driving too fast with your arm out the window.
7.
Plover 02:36
She is wading out in the water, her long legs are waning under, the waves are higher further from shore, she is no swimmer, she is no marine hunter. She’s in peril out on the water, but I’m a swimmer just like her father was.
8.
Sparrow 03:34
I know someday we’ll have to kiss for the last time and I hope that it feels like this. And someday I’ll have to think about that, but I can’t think about anything when you’re in my kitchen making coffee, my shirt draped over your body like a bird that came in my open window and flew in circles around my living room. I know someday we’ll have to kiss for the last time and I hope that it feels like this.

credits

released April 20, 2012

All music and lyrics written by Tyler Butler. Recorded live with minimal overdubs by Tyler Butler in The Bear Cave. Bass by Brody Irvine. Extra vocals by Lyndsay Hobbs and Brody Irvine. Original cover art by Sean McMahon. Mixed by Tyler Butler and Lyndsay Hobbs. Mastered by Ashton Richard Klassen, Taylor Schaerer and Tyler Butler.
tylerjackbutler@gmail.com

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Tyler Butler Edmonton, Alberta

I live in Edmonton.

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