Backwards Is The Sky

Driving down the Kaw River Valley,
Bob Dylan screaming through my mind,
We hit mach one just this side of Lawrence,
I plugged myself into the universe
And it started to rain,

Boring into the Flint Hills,
Avoiding Sac and Fox, Kickapoo, and
Prairie Band People of the Fire,
"Warp Factor Five, Mr. Zulu?"
The Grateful Dead singing "Backwards Is The Sky",

Leaving all the trails behind us,
"Houston, go for throttle up?"
"Roger, Challenger, go for throttle up,"
You know it was the last words we ever heard,
The Mudra of Perfection on the Great Wheel,
Tolkien's Ring to rule them all on my finger,
Driving the trail of flesh and tears,

Singing the Song of Solomon through the
Fields of sunflowers,
Thinking about the trip, the Subterraneans,
And if they ever saw Blake's Albionic nightime visions,

Red fields of milo hide deer and pheasants, terrapins,
And an occasional corpse,
Nobody listens to Jefferson Airplane any more,

"Backwards Is The Sky" (Lyrics)

Backwards is the sky,
When you're driving in the rain,
Through the Flint Hills of Kansas
And the nightmare visions of Albion,
Kerouac and Cassidy, Subterranean Homesick Blues,
Desolation angels on the run,

Backwards is the sky,
On our way to Babylon,
We raise our voices up to the sun,
Dancing bears and terrapins, keep us company,
Sunshine daydream children on the run,
Rainbow dancing children of the sun.

(Written for Katrin and Ann, 1997)