“On the First [Monday] of March, On the Holiday”
Today is Casimir Pulaski Day. Be sure to celebrate appropriately.
HT: Gaines
Golden rod and the 4-H stone
The things I brought you
When I found out you had cancer of the bone
Your father cried on the telephone
And he drove his car to the Navy yard
Just to prove that he was sorry
In the morning through the window shade
When the light pressed up against your shoulder blade
I could see what you were reading
Oh the glory that the lord has made
And the complications you could do without
When I kissed you on the mouth
Tuesday night at the Bible study
We lift our hands and pray over your body
But nothing ever happens
I remember at Michael’s house
In the living room when you kissed my neck
And I almost touched your blouse
In the morning at the top of the stairs
When your father found out what we did that night
And you told me you were scared
Oh the glory when you ran outside
With your shirt tucked in and your shoes untied
And you told me not to follow you
Sunday night when I cleaned the house
I find the card where you wrote it out
With the pictures of your mother
On the floor at the great divide
With my shirt tucked in and my shoes untied
I am crying in the bathroom
In the morning when you finally go
And the nurse runs in with her head hung low
And the cardinal hits the window
In the morning in the winter shade
On the first of March on the holiday
I thought I saw you breathing
Oh the glory that the lord has made
And the complications when I see his face
In the morning in the window
Oh the glory when he took our place
But he took my shoulders and he shook my face
And he takes and he takes and he takes
~ “Casimir Pulaski Day” from Illinois by Sufjan Stevens
Share on Facebook
March 5th, 2007 at 10:20 pm
Casimir Pulaski, not to be confused with St. Casimir, the patron Saint of Poland and Lithuania who was celebrated yesterday by the Roman Catholic Church as well as my upstairs neighbors last night by inviting all their friends over and letting their kids run wild until the early morning.
March 5th, 2007 at 10:33 pm
To me, the name Pulaski will always bring to mind the ugly black iron Pulaski Skyway elevated highway running out from Newark across the Jersey Turnpike.
March 7th, 2007 at 8:39 am
When Pulaski came to America, he arrived here in Philly where he met Washington. There’s a statue of him on the west side of the Art Museum and there’s a Pulaski Street in Germantown. October is Polish-American heritage month and a Pulaski Day Parade is held in Philly at the beginning of October.
And, yes, I’m a fount of endless trivia.
March 7th, 2007 at 8:47 am
So Sufjan should have saved Casimir Pulaski Day for his Pennsylvania album?
March 7th, 2007 at 10:02 pm
Depends whether you go with the General’s birth date (March) or death date (October). Illinois does the former and Pennsylvania the latter.
March 7th, 2007 at 10:05 pm
I will never ever never not ever play Trivial Pursuit against you. Ever. Not ever. At all.