The Jetty (or, An Elegy for Frederick A. Jordan)

from Ash Creek by Aaron Orpheus

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lyrics

We are in a cold place. We are alone tonight.
My friend and I step out onto the concrete, beckoned out, towards the tempest.
Flags flutter wildly in the gusts, desperate petrels in a ravenous cyclone.
We come to the spit’s seaward end.
The vast and menacing quilt of heaven looms above,
threatening to drift down and smother us at any moment.

Below me, the tumultuous froth crests of black depths.
I run my numb fingers along the railings, cold and wet,
rust forming throbbing tumors and infected fissures
where the salt spray seeps into the metal.
Before me, a dark surf blasts and crashes and squelches and surges
against massive slabs and through their countless unholy crevices
I smell it:
the abyss is rising again.

Past the treacherous reef tip, through the fog,
a lighthouse sits on a rock-pile.
Your glowing red eye stares back at me. You see me.
They said they left you a long time ago, but I know your keeper.

I imagine a dory paddling slowly through the swells, hauling oil
The fueling is a fool’s errand.
Only a churning maelstrom awaits my rower.
The red light blinks.
I loose my white knuckles from the railings
and turn away from the nightmare
to face him.

credits

from Ash Creek, released May 29, 2020

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Aaron Orpheus Providence, Rhode Island

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i found this album on bandcamp in high school, immediately ordered the vinyl, and never looked back. rhythmic, emotional, detailed, explosive. it's "mathy" without being corny. takashi kashikura >>>>> Aaron Orpheus
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each little tune on this is a microcosm of every electrifying, emotionally resonant moment i've ever had. such simple instrumentals, but each one cuts right to the core at a different angle Aaron Orpheus
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friend of orpheus!! BOMBASTIC art pop, ever-diverse, wild textures, lyrical twists and turns, bursting with personality. so bonkers, so colorful, so well-put-together, so easy to love!! Aaron Orpheus
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