the town of thirteen days by omar najam

https://soundcloud.com/omar-najam-201863023/the-town-of-thirteen-days

the town of thirteen days

There’s a town

It’s not a place

Nor a time

But something sort of in between

It’s carried on the warm autumn air

The tiny chill nestled within

That’s the key

Opening an invisible door

Welcoming us all

Beckoning us all

To the town of thirteen days

It begins with that chill

As we said before

But it’s followed by a rattling

Of bones

As skeletons rise

From the dirt

Rejoiced at the life breathed into their chests

Once again

There’s frivolity and fun

The air has spice and glimmer

An eerie iridescence

That lands on our skin

And makes us feel more alive than alive

As we howl

Into the night

And the wind

Howls back

A town where pumpkins have names

And faces

And other things have names

And faces

As they sing a chorus

Of light melodies

And toys dance

Their strings snapping and clacking

With no puppeteers in sight

We build with anything we can find

Cardboard. Wood. Leaves and Paint

Homes for ghosts

That come to visit us

From before

From now

And from what is to come

Their ghastly visages mislead

For they only bring good tidings

We ride in the night

Sitting upon beds of straw

As the sun always seems to have just set

Or maybe it’s rising

And we snack on apples

And baked squash

And mysteries wrapped in mysterious wrappers

The air is thick

And the darkness thicker

As we ride into another world

Or another world rides into ours

And we merge

And bark

And yell

As the flickering flames of a bonfire

Rise into the sky

And then it’s done

The thirteen days close

And the world becomes cold

And that little last summer warmth nestled within

Is the key that locks the door

With us

On the other side

Except that’s not true

Is it

Because this town

Of thirteen days

Is always

And forever will be

And somewhere

Not a place

Not a time

But somewhere

The bonfires are still burning

And we are still howling

And the air still has spice and glimmer

Listen very carefully

And you’ll hear us

A part of us

Still there

Always

And forever

Howling at the moon

And screaming

Into the night