BIBLIOTECAS DA MEMÓRIA

Ninguém usa as palavras como Laurie Anderson.

you know that little clock?
the one on your vcr?
the one that's always blinking twelve noon
because you never figured out how to get in there and change it
so it's always the same time
just the way it came from the factory

good morning.
good night.
same time tomorrow.
we're in record.

so here are the questions:
is time long
or is it wide?
and the answers
sometimes the answers just come in the mail
and one day you get that letter
you've been waiting for forever
and everything it says
is true.

and then in the last line it says:
burn this.

and what you really want to know is this:
are things getting better
or are they getting worse?

stop.
pause.
we're in record.

because history are stories
that we have remembered
and most of them never even get written down.
and so when they say things like:
we're gonna do this by the book
you have to ask:
what book?
because it would make a big difference
if it was Dostoievsky
or just, you know,
Ivanhoe.

I remember where I came from
there were burning buildings
and a fiery red sea
I remember all my lovers
I remember how they held me

east.
the edge of the world.
west.
those who came before me.
we're in record.

come here little girl
get into the car
it's a brand new Cadillac
bright red.
come here little girl.

when my father died
we put him in the ground.
when my father died
it was like a whole library
had burned down.

stop.
pause.

same time tomorrow.

and wild beasts shall rest there.
and owls shall answer one another there.
and the hairy ones shall dance there.
and sirens in the temples of pleasure.

speak my language.