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Graveman

from III by Mal VU

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lyrics

The Grave Man

Before the last flicker of the setting sun
black, would come the slow silhouette of the grave man.
a skeletal figure with a shovel o’er his shoulder
raptor. minion. sluggish reaper.
stood to the tip of his tall hat: 7 feet high

watch him blend in
watch him
disappear
against the darkening sky

Sallow face skewed - in placid devilry
cloud of madness; an air of misery
crooked back, sunken chest
acrid-scented breath of death.
unheard. he never spoke a word
his oily jaw clamped & set

people feared the figure of the grave man
he looked to be, more than just the digger
people feared the figure of the grave man
he looked to be, director of the dying

From the dirt-floored cellar of the slanted wooden stay
just outside the churchyard (he would take the back way)
down the damp & twisted path, through the thick infested pine
into the pale, gray moonlit clearing…
plugged with headstones, Death, & Time.

he’d look around & tally up the markers..
drive his pointed shovel
into her wet, green skin
slice into the meat
of the fresh clay within.

& all the eyes & ears fastened upon him
(the ravens, the black cats, the snakes & all the rats)
& every ghost laid up in that place
stopped still. by his furious repetition

“there’s no where to go but down”
(he’s thinking)
“no. no where to go but down.”

No one ever saw the grave man
under the fulgent light of the day
no one cares for the grave man
he cares for all the people
when they pass away

credits

from III, track released October 31, 2000

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Mal VU Chicago, Illinois

Mal VU began in 1993 in Columbus, Ohio by performance artist Vena Gore (Lesley Ann Fogle) and Darrin Brown. After relocating to Chicago in 1998, Vena worked in various recording studios producing Mal Vu songs at night. Mal VU grew to include Traci Trouble and a slew of guest musicians from the Chicago scene. American gothic with dark narrative ballads. Members of After-Death Plan ... more

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