Private Idado

Idaho without a map. Shit.

Some hidden driveway,

Straight through the gate

Right into the damn pool

Chlorine in my eyes

A wild potato

At the bottom of this bottomless pool

I hear “get out!”

Maybe from inside my head

But there are no arms to grab me

No lifeguard in sight

“Don't go on the patio”

“Keep off the path”

“Beware of the gate”

Words now warped

Through the water in my ears

Fraught with danger

Out of control

Does the radium clock make a sound

If I can’t hear its tick over my frantic splashing?

I’m living

At least as long as my lungs

Can hold out

In my own trap

In my own pool

In my own private Idaho

Fuck. I should have gone to California

Written September 2023, after “Private Idado” by the B-52s.

This was part of my 2023 appearance on Interprotations, a Tyler Hawes event, where three different artists covered/interpreted the same set list in very different ways.