took a bite…

 

I’m in a hurry     I’m always in a hurry    I want my pudding     I want my pudding now      I need instant gratification      and a billion dollar high          I’ve got the hunger something chronic      I took a bite out of the world     I nearly swallowed it whole     it tasted so damn good     and now I want some more

seek out the devil

 

I turned over a new leaf     it looks the same as the old leaf     I think perhaps I’m living the only life I can     I tell you folks I’m trying       but it isn’t going well      I reckon I’d be a better man     if I wasn’t so fucking poor     I tried so hard to be good     but I didn’t have it in me      so I keep to myself     it’s simpler that way        

I’m not a complete arsehole     I’m still  able to feel     I suffer little children      their hungry mouths to feed     but somehow I feel impoverished    I’m talking financially     coz it’s money that people worship in this society         well, I’d rather seek out the devil     and keep my conscience clean     than participate in a religion    so inhuman and obscene    

New Tricks...

 

these bones have lost their savour

my teeth are worn to stumps

but this dog has owned his days

he won’t lick your fucking hand

and he won’t do tricks for treats

you can’t butter him up with praise

or appeal to his conceit

this dog is long past caring

his concerns are obsolete

news for dummies

 

we’ve been waiting for the world to change      most of our dread fuelled lives      but that’s not gonna happen     not in the world we live in      they say violence is instrumental       and violence can auger change        coz the good guys always win      they said so on the terrorvision     they tell us there’s freedom here at home      but that’s just another lie      freedom at large is just a dream     the name of the game is power      p-o-w-e-r     don’t put yourself on      all paths lead to the inescapable conclusion    that every victory is pyrrhic     when the war can never be won    

cockroaches

this is cockroach  weather      the season of decay      I’m staying indoors – less cosmic radiation       it’s the rays that wear you down in the end       ultraviolent    radioactivity     desiccates the flesh     and leaves the husk behind     but my body is a temple    secluded and derelict         hidden in the shade

I read somewhere that life came to this planet on comets      I wonder how it will leave      they say that when we have finally fucked this world up all that will be left are cockroaches        maybe that’s all we do that’s of any significance         we feed the fucking cockroaches       the true masters of planet earth

you can’t kill them with pesticides or atom bombs     there’s evolutionary excellence for you – to eat shit and never die    unless someone flips you on your back      the cockroach god is waiting for accidents like that      I saw this movie once where cockroaches learned to impersonate people     it turned out to be true     there are billions of cockroach people     who look like me and you

slightly misanthropic

all relationships are based on power       I know this for a fact      you must adjust your expectations      and deal with that reality        I don’t make the rules      it isn’t up to me       the vagaries of intent     bind every living creature     into the symbiotic rituals      most commonly affected      by parasitic beings      equipped with human hearts

 I’m accused of spreading bad news       because one man’s truth     is another man’s poison     but I no longer care     if I’m misunderstood      I’m an honest man     given the opportunity      you won’t hear me speak evil      does that mean I’m good?       my friends don’t seem to care       they can light their own fires       they don’t need the likes of me        to slay their petty tyrants       or set their captives free

instrumental violence

 you can’t control me now     you’re no longer in my scheme     I’m not afraid of you       you won’t hurt me again      there’s nothing you can do      nothing you can say       I’ve had enough of you    and your brutal ways     you call your aggression justice      and my resistance crime      I’ll no longer play your victim     just as I’ll never play your thug    but if you think I’ll be a bystander     then you can think again     there are forms of subtle violence      that breed conformity      I will not acquiesce to them    you won’t get that from me

cities on fire

cities on fire 

in the republic of sorrows      

cities on fire   

in the land of the free

cities on fire  

where the dark horse rises      

cities on fire

far as the eye can see

we’re talking London and Chicago

we’re talking Memphis Tennessee

I got gasoline in the car

take a ride with me

cities on fire

across the planet

cities on fire

it’s our destiny

 

Bethlehem

 there’s a poem lodged in my throat     I don’t remember the words       or where it all began     they say  god speaks through signs       that only prophets understand      where  the sky blankets the earth      in misty  morning dew       a child in golden chains      the sacrificial lamb      lost in winter storms      hostage to conflict       and there’s no star now over Bethlehem       just a testament to unending war

 

My Death Songs

 man     I’m strung out like never before        my death songs bud ruby on my lips     the voices of ancient lovers        exposed in tender hearts  and bloody groins       sing the song eternal       and their words breathe sexual in my hungry ears         they know the sounds I long to hear      theirs is the music of children’s laughter      mixed with my own foolish lamentations          those tears will always flow      while the burden of love is loss    

Spiders

manky bastards     plied clever words     and ugly rumours     they were rather nifty     with the dishing of dirt     and spreading of filth     they told me things     that made me choke    

I had to cultivate      a little distance     from the unclean     they had worms     for tongues     and they traded     chinese whispers     for dubious reward    

there’s a kernel of truth     at the heart of every lie     but there’s no sense     hidden in confusion     and those who love      to spread bad news     one day reap the chaos       they themselves have sown

Egg N Chips

we had egg and chips

and we were grateful

the children in Africa

had nothing at all

we dragged the low end

because we were brassic

when your stomach is empty

it’s hard to stand tall

the times sure were tough

but the people were tougher

when troubles are shared

they can suddenly seem small

Blood Rite

I’m all jelly bone

and knee tremble

my brothel creepers

and crepe soul

slick with anticipation

tomorrow

is another

creosote sundae

but tonight

is a total eclipse

of reason

I bide my time

spilling my oats

on barren ground

to be washed away

in the menstrual cycle

my instruments

calculate trouble

word gets around

there are no secrets

in monkey town

Loner

she had those absinthe eyes

set in a fragile waifish dial

she possessed a laddish wit

that always made me smile

we were never really lovers

but we fucked once in a while

.

no, we were drinking buddies

and were seldom sober

but we were never truly close

because at heart she was a loner

and I wonder what became of her

when our escapades were over

.

Menagerie

there was no miscalculating

it was the season of ill will

those fractious lovebirds

were broadcasting citywide

they were at the ding dong

with the usual diatribe

concerning love and validation

guerrilla tactics were involved

I had to shield my mind

from their carnal dredgings

and squirmed with embarrassment

when they mentioned my name

.

Ghosts In The Blood

you got ghosts in your blood   you best get you some stony   I got the fear on  roll me one too    I’m bound to get lucky   I’m prepared to die trying   you can fetch me solace   from another man’s gutter   because I’m headed home   where there will be a welcome   or a maybe just a lynching   they might have forgotten   I hope they’ve forgiven   what’s done is done   and I paid my dues 

I don’t believe in resurrections    or in tearful reconciliations    the past is gone forever    ghosts take shape in its shade    and my head is haunted    with that fearful geometry    and the friends undone    by time and tide   you take your best shot   and maybe another   you might win some    but you’ll likely lose more   no-one passes this way     unless they pay the toll

Your Favourite Lover

Three’s crowd darlin’
Did no one tell you that?
Three caused more murders
Than greed ever done
And baby that’s a fact
There’s a man odour in here
Like the smell of dying dogs
You better burn those sheets
Cause they’ve been spoiled for me
There’s only room for one man here
So who’s it going to be?
.
When I first met you baby
Five or six years ago
You didn’t have a clue
But my how you have grown
Have you gone all femme fatale?
Is this a game you’ve been playing?
Well the fun and games end now
Don’t waste your time explaining
You better make your mind up
Or I’ll have to set you free
Who’s your favourite lover
Is it him or is it me?
.

Before The Lights Went Out

was that real enough for you?
I can still taste the blood
is there anything better than that?
I should fuckin’ well hope so
so you think you’ve had enough?
who was that cat on the cross?
I make a point of never knowing
that cunt had some moves
he was immaculate, so he was
I’m glad I got to see him
before the lights went out
.

Attrition

we cling to the great curve     with our suicide pants     bunched around our ankles    
and our arses hanging in the wind     we long ago abandoned     any pretence of modesty     and our protestations of innocence     sound ironic given our circumstances     the generation of conspicuous consumption      have full bellies and empty aspirations     all we seek in the theatre of distraction     is the instant gratification of minor vices     and the reassurance that we are good people    despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary

Painless

I never do house calls, but this radge was overdue and I was losing patience. He was all meek and mild till the talk turned to readies owing – then he turned bubblegum warrior. Scumbag tore me down, wrapped a rag around my face and blitzed me with a dirty one. Man I was sick. He then proceeded to dip my pockets; relieving me of my stash and less credible credentials. That was a boot to the nads – and me with no bullets in my gun.

Here was the neighbourhood leech rattling my cage and I felt the filth rising, but there was no point taking unkindly to him – he was doing all he could to alleviate the surplus in my pockets and bring comfort to my bleary head. The gear was no good, and the sentiments attached were bogus, but they nearly did for me. I was a cathedral full of blind mice tuned to panic stations – they sang the siren song of closet tweakers; quietly, tunelessly.

My knackers were withered, but my thinking was still deep enough to cover my space. So I fixed laughing boy with my good eye and asked, “Why do they call you Painless?” He just laughed and flourished his kit before commencing with the washing up; there was trouble brewing in his pipe, but I had my school craft down – this old dog knew a few tricks. It was well past noon before I peeled myself from his rock star wife to emerge victorious by the narrowest of margins – where I often do my best work.

.