The Switching/Yard

Notes

81 nOtES “Visitation at Gogama” was written on the VIA Rail Canadian from Toronto to Jasper. “California Corridor” makes use of a phrase from Imagine the Angels of Bread by Martín Espada. It was written while riding the San Joaquin in Northern California. “We Cover Our Heads Like Deer” is for Allison Adelle Hedge Coke and Natalie Diaz. “Sister as Moving Object” was written after reading the work of James Allen Hall and D. A. Powell. “White Girl in a Record Store” makes reference to the Sugarhill Gang, who inaugurated the history of recorded hip-hop with their 1979 single “Rapper’s Delight,” the first hip-hop single to become a top 40 hit. The song is ranked #248 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.” “Top-10 List” is for Aaron Smith. “Reading Wanda Coleman on the California Zephyr” was written on the California Zephyr from Pittsburgh to Denver while reading Coleman’s Ostinato Vamps and The Riot Inside Me: More Trials & Tremors. “The Switching/Yard” was written on the VIA Rail Canadian from Toronto to Jasper. “jimi dream” includes a “right-handed strat, \\ [upside-down-\olympicwhite ].” This refers to the way Jimi Hendrix started to play the guitar. He was left-handed and picked up a right-handed guitar, flipped it upside down, and restrung it. He stayed with this way of playing throughout his life. His trademark guitar was a 1968 Olympic White Stratocaster. “In the Staging Area” was written on the Southwest Chief from Chicago to Needles, California. “Ghostdaddys” makes use of a phrase from Chronic by D. A. Powell. 82 “Monument to the War Dead” is for Judith Vollmer. It makes use of firsthand knowledge and information regarding the California Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Sacramento, California, from vietvet.org. “Blind” refers to the sandhill crane migration, specifically where the cranes stop on the Platte River in Nebraska in March of every year for primary refueling. Thanks to the 2010 and 2011 Artist Fellowships at the Platte River Whooping Crane Trust, directed by Allison Adelle Hedge Coke, and to the James L. Grahl Research Center. “Drinking the Lizard King” is for Kayla Sargeson. “Drinking the Lizard King” loosely refers to the performance of Jim Morrison and the Doors on March 1, 1969, at the Dinner Key Auditorium in Coconut Grove, Florida, commonly known as “The Miami Incident.” On March 5th, the city of Miami issued a warrant for Morrison’s arrest, after a complaint was signed by an office boy who had gone to the show and happened to work for the state attorney. The Dade County State Attorney’s Office issued a felony charge of lewd and lascivious behavior and five misdemeanors: two counts of indecent exposure, two for public profanity, and one for public drunkenness. This was followed by Rolling Stone publishing the “Wanted in Dade County” cover photo of Morrison, with the article: “Morrison’s Penis Is Indecent” (www.doors.com). “Approaching Denver/Union Station” was written on the California Zephyr from Pittsburgh to Denver. “In Waking: Summer” is for Don. ...