John Darnielle is married with two sons. Laura Jane Grace sits comfortably in her Chicago apartment. Patrick Schneeweis’s father still plays the trumpet. I am at work, staring at a screen. There are still three hours left in the day. Last weekend, I churned in the mosh pit at the Rent Strike concert. I can still feel the bruise.

I always wanted to die young. But I’m still here. The fire is reduced to a smolder, but the ashes don’t blow away. We’re all still here, those of us who still are. “Most of my old friends are dead or sober, ” Pat remarks in a recent interview. He is surrounded by boxes of aid headed for Gaza. There is an echo that reverberates through that room, or so I would guess. It’s hard to be uncompromising forever. For all the fights, for all the songs, all we said.

I’m happy that John no longer writes about the stick pins and the cottons. That Pat released the bunny. I hope Laura dreams about Bob Dylan tonight. I will play Erik Peterson for my son one day. And maybe it will light a flame inside him. Maybe he will accomplish what the rest of us could not do between two chords and a lie.

Andrew London (he/him) is a Colorado-based writer focusing on fiction and poetry. He worked as a photographer and writer for Music in Press, and his contributions as writer, editor, and designer were published by Colorado Parks and Wildlife in 2024. When he's not writing, he's making zines, playing music, or going on long hikes with his wife and dog. Website