Albuquerque, NM

On the Brighten tour with Jerry Cantrell

The sun should rise over every mountain top

It should also set below every range

This morning, suffocated eyes sewn shut by unforgiving bunk heat

Our bus drove into New Mexico

Tired eyes caught the 5:30 awakening

When things feel real quiet

And a bit of yellow starts coming over the curved country

The sun finally showing its bold and fiery presence now at 6:45

It was just an inkling an hour ago

Back when the land looked black against the creeping light

We moved fast enough so that the mountains moved slow

Big black animals, curvaceous and ominous

You couldn’t tell when the country started and when it ended

So as it came to a point when one range was closer in proximity than the other, instead of overlapping and unveiling depth, they just appeared to merge

Like acrylic paintings on clear laminate sheets, manually moved by someone’s thumbs and middle fingers over a dim-lit tracing table

It was satisfying

Slowly now the mountains become lighter and lighter shades of periwinkle

And I think about how tired I’ll be, how this day will be many wasted hours of sleep

But I’m glad I sat patiently in the morning

Albuquerque slowly revealing himself to me