He laughs through a strained face
like wind from an underground train.
“I just boast over the beats, me!
Mix in some funky blips and
talk street and—here’s the key—
stir in girls who coo
like whores in a limosine
parked beside a big church!
You get that little angel
glow in the chorus and ch-
CHING! you got a fantasy
that lets you get rich
off the poor!”
And he winces that grin again
through a face like a map
of a war.
.
Give It Away
You wake up under a thick
Fog of dream
You tell yourself it’s not as
Bad as it seems
You rub two dim eyes
You sigh and rise
A rather battered-looking
Face faces you
In the mirror that you’re
Staring into
It starts to scare you
What can you do?
Time to go and give it away
Out there faces flash their
Gazes at you
Mostly looking either
Battered or cruel
They start to scare you
What can you do?
Each money-maker makes his
Way through the maze
Doing duties that screw
Twists in his face
It’s not a secret
The deal is real
Everybody gives it away
In the maze you meet a
Man on the street
He stinks and jabbers through some
Black broken teeth
He starts to scare you
What can you do?
He’s what happens when you
Crack up and crash
Who was this man before he
Fell through the cracks?
He looks right at you
You see him too
You know you’ve got to give it away
(They say it’s all a game in the maze
And your place in the game is to play)
A guy at work is looking
Desperate and blue
He groans and curses in the
Cube next to you
It starts to scare you
What can you do?
If you ask him ‘bout the
Trouble he’s in
He’ll never only be a
Colleague again
You rub two dim eyes
You sigh and rise
Time to really give it away
.
Fog of dream
You tell yourself it’s not as
Bad as it seems
You rub two dim eyes
You sigh and rise
A rather battered-looking
Face faces you
In the mirror that you’re
Staring into
It starts to scare you
What can you do?
Time to go and give it away
Out there faces flash their
Gazes at you
Mostly looking either
Battered or cruel
They start to scare you
What can you do?
Each money-maker makes his
Way through the maze
Doing duties that screw
Twists in his face
It’s not a secret
The deal is real
Everybody gives it away
In the maze you meet a
Man on the street
He stinks and jabbers through some
Black broken teeth
He starts to scare you
What can you do?
He’s what happens when you
Crack up and crash
Who was this man before he
Fell through the cracks?
He looks right at you
You see him too
You know you’ve got to give it away
(They say it’s all a game in the maze
And your place in the game is to play)
A guy at work is looking
Desperate and blue
He groans and curses in the
Cube next to you
It starts to scare you
What can you do?
If you ask him ‘bout the
Trouble he’s in
He’ll never only be a
Colleague again
You rub two dim eyes
You sigh and rise
Time to really give it away
.
Memories of a Journey
The twisted hog’s face of the rude old border guard
who looked through the bags in your car.
Driving through the night in the fog and the rain
while the others slept until someone woke and relieved you.
Arriving at the sea at sunset in a town of smiling strangers
who seemed to want nothing from you.
Sleeping like a baby—with hectic intricate world-worried dreams.
The BRAAWK! (ringing long pause) BRAAWK! of the birds
sailing over the roof when you woke.
The churn of the ferryboat through sun sea air
and islands like moon pyramids.
Swimming in a cool salt lake with big-eyed donkeys on the shore
beneath bleached stone hills full of olive trees.
Heavy dark home-made red wine strong as brandy at dusk.
.
who looked through the bags in your car.
Driving through the night in the fog and the rain
while the others slept until someone woke and relieved you.
Arriving at the sea at sunset in a town of smiling strangers
who seemed to want nothing from you.
Sleeping like a baby—with hectic intricate world-worried dreams.
The BRAAWK! (ringing long pause) BRAAWK! of the birds
sailing over the roof when you woke.
The churn of the ferryboat through sun sea air
and islands like moon pyramids.
Swimming in a cool salt lake with big-eyed donkeys on the shore
beneath bleached stone hills full of olive trees.
Heavy dark home-made red wine strong as brandy at dusk.
.
A Cliff at the Edge of the World
Hoist up a sad-eyed smile
while the world
fogs the Earth with its fart
and it’s hard to be a tree
Green leaves shiver
in big grey winds
and little faces
shower down from the clouds
Silver
soul of an ocean
in a puddle of rain
on a cliff at the edge of the world
.
while the world
fogs the Earth with its fart
and it’s hard to be a tree
Green leaves shiver
in big grey winds
and little faces
shower down from the clouds
Silver
soul of an ocean
in a puddle of rain
on a cliff at the edge of the world
.
Loved So Terribly
I was born in a hot house
That blurred the glaring sun
I watched and I waited
For something to happen
Light burned through the cracks and
I knew I had to run
I ran through the desert
The sun burned my bare face
I was lonely and desperate
To find another place
Where passionate people
Opened their warm embrace
I made some good friends and
I got burned by some creeps
Those creeps raped a gentle
Simple kindness in me
I dreamed of revenge and
I sought it violently
I swallowed the darkness
The darkness swallowed me
I swallowed more darkness
More darkness swallowed me
I lost the bright star that
I loved so terribly
.
That blurred the glaring sun
I watched and I waited
For something to happen
Light burned through the cracks and
I knew I had to run
I ran through the desert
The sun burned my bare face
I was lonely and desperate
To find another place
Where passionate people
Opened their warm embrace
I made some good friends and
I got burned by some creeps
Those creeps raped a gentle
Simple kindness in me
I dreamed of revenge and
I sought it violently
I swallowed the darkness
The darkness swallowed me
I swallowed more darkness
More darkness swallowed me
I lost the bright star that
I loved so terribly
.
Snake In The Grass
Where’d you come from?
Are you running away?
Grab a chair, sit down,
You might as well stay
Maybe you’ve got
A lot to say
I don’t know
Are you leaving
Something awful behind?
Are you drifting?
Are you wandering blind?
Getting lost could be
A good way to find
Something else
This could be something
That isn’t the truth anymore
Yeah I’ll sit down
But there’s not much to tell
I’m not drifting—
I’m running like hell
And I’m here with you
‘Cause it happens to be
Where I fell
Almost everything
I see I hate
It’s like I’m born
Into a nightmare fate
And every move I make
Is always too late
To escape
A bunch of bastards
Have me trapped like a rat in a maze
No use confessing
These messes to you
I may have no clue
As to what I should do
But believe me, mister,
I ain’t looking to you
As some guru
So thank you, old man,
For being so kind
I really wonder
Just what you have in mind—
You prob’ly want to take
A bite out of me
From behind
Every damned thing
In this violent life has a price
(Everywhere I pass
There’s a snake in the grass
A snake in the grass
Won’t just let you pass)
I’m a lonely old man
That much is true
And a grass snake hisses
Through all that we do
And if you’re insisting
That this is your truth
Then it’s true
But do these monsters
That you hate so much
Have an absolute
Hold over us?
Are they more mighty
Than the wind or the touch
Of the sun?
Care to join me
In a good strong cup of black tea?
Maybe later
We can ease our feet in the sea
.
Are you running away?
Grab a chair, sit down,
You might as well stay
Maybe you’ve got
A lot to say
I don’t know
Are you leaving
Something awful behind?
Are you drifting?
Are you wandering blind?
Getting lost could be
A good way to find
Something else
This could be something
That isn’t the truth anymore
Yeah I’ll sit down
But there’s not much to tell
I’m not drifting—
I’m running like hell
And I’m here with you
‘Cause it happens to be
Where I fell
Almost everything
I see I hate
It’s like I’m born
Into a nightmare fate
And every move I make
Is always too late
To escape
A bunch of bastards
Have me trapped like a rat in a maze
No use confessing
These messes to you
I may have no clue
As to what I should do
But believe me, mister,
I ain’t looking to you
As some guru
So thank you, old man,
For being so kind
I really wonder
Just what you have in mind—
You prob’ly want to take
A bite out of me
From behind
Every damned thing
In this violent life has a price
(Everywhere I pass
There’s a snake in the grass
A snake in the grass
Won’t just let you pass)
I’m a lonely old man
That much is true
And a grass snake hisses
Through all that we do
And if you’re insisting
That this is your truth
Then it’s true
But do these monsters
That you hate so much
Have an absolute
Hold over us?
Are they more mighty
Than the wind or the touch
Of the sun?
Care to join me
In a good strong cup of black tea?
Maybe later
We can ease our feet in the sea
.
Warm Wide Orange Skies
A lazy
grey day
off
walk
by husks
of houses
like toothaches
rotten and
raw
gusts
of shopping
mall pop
from these
flash-by
cars
shrink
me to
a humming
beam that
can see
what
goes
on all
the time
(while we’re
blind in
our
minds)
walk with
me and
we soon
may see
human
silhouettes
dancing on
sand dunes
against warm
wide orange
skies
.
grey day
off
walk
by husks
of houses
like toothaches
rotten and
raw
gusts
of shopping
mall pop
from these
flash-by
cars
shrink
me to
a humming
beam that
can see
what
goes
on all
the time
(while we’re
blind in
our
minds)
walk with
me and
we soon
may see
human
silhouettes
dancing on
sand dunes
against warm
wide orange
skies
.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)