the seekers informed me
that everything that is
emanates from a single source
but they had no plan
no method
or application
to take them there
they told me faith
was their single solution
and that faith was magical
they pointed to their books
saying all truth resided there
and that belief was enough
to vouchsafe a ticket
for the kingdom to come
but I am of this world
not of the next
and my connections
are all paid for
through direct experience
are we just bunkered up
beside our television sets
quarantined in our tombs?
are we but maggot food
served on viral platters?
we don’t have to go anywhere
this microbial apocalypse
will be delivered to ours doors
just like Moses did of old
I hear no wailing in the night
the streets are oppressed
in quiet apprehension
as the world settles into sleep
to dream perhaps eternally
not everyone shall see morning
some shall be taken in the night
and we shall mourn them
in the grey and silent dawn
we put all our eggs
in a single basket
and cast our lot
with the viral load
but there’s nowhere
to run in the great pandemic
nothing to do but hunker low
some say we’re judged by God
or that nature has rejected us
we sift for patterns
in the random chaos
and set to sea in thin rafts
woven together by promises
launched onto turbulent waters
more in hope than expectation
poor boy’s all fucked up
he has a runny nose
he got hit in the face
with a horseshoe bat
but went undiagnosed
they called for isolation
but he was last to know
he only picks up static
on his clockwork radio
the devil stole his breath
but no one gave a shit
until they’d tasted death
and everyone was sick
these are the days
of weary obedience
to the fearful edicts
of frightened men
we are yet savages
beneath our surfaces
and we hunger still
for reassurances
beyond our borders
so sit yourself down
to take sustenance
at your father’s table
take what you will
from what’s offered
not by violence
but through love
and the good grace
of your lesser demons
the aching hours
drone into eternity
and we are alone
inside closed eyes
within our memories
our pain has no past
our pain has no future
our pain has only now
in days without end
I caught a glimpse
of tumultuous change
and heard the song of ages
ringing out like a bell
welcome to the new cycle
an electro magnetic reality
history is now irrelevant
all things must pass eventually
this world is transformed forever
the future is being forged in fire
give me shelter
from the tempest
feed me now
and evermore
I will be your
power and glory
your touching stone
and favoured whore
they’ll call us demons
when they tell our story
but we have the juice
that transcends all sin
I got my hands
on the keys to heaven
just open the door
and let me in
the mysteries of
life seem to defy explanation but I got the prickly answers festering in my ball sack it don’t take a psychic to chart my approach an electric horizon all fire and thunder crackles and spurts with them golden bullets the fruit of my loins
murder and mayhem lurk in my shadow so open the door just let me in I won’t be no bother or give me your cloak this is magical weather give me your cloak and I’ll cast you a spell
this poor boy gets all ego inflated and is counter-indicated for most applications I’m
good for a laugh but don’t
ask for directions my bipolar co-ordinates mean I’m lost and found in repetitive cycles
however due
to the unique way my head is
located I get to harmonise with those dissonant values that tie other people in gordian knots this heavy soul walks on many waters a
friend to all men but master of none
don’t mind
this old dog
I have rubber teeth
and my bark is worse
than my bite
but
I got some paper
in my hand
says I can take
your day
I’ve been
inoculated
against your truth
with knowledge
and my crew
has cast lots
for your shit
so strip down
dummy up
and listen
your empires
of deception
will be washed
away in time
and your emperors
will stand naked
in the dock
of history
to answer
for their crimes
*image: Akhenaten the ‘Heretic Pharaoh’.
.
it all began with the big bang
and that sudden realization
of the loose arrangement
that binds the race
in instinctual fear
so you’d best cast me out
I have a dreamer’s disease
I’m a philistine and a cannibal
my light comes from within
I got a cut rate education
stolen between knotted sheets
and from the borrowed books
I neglected to return
I was an idiot savant
a music hall visionary
in the insane old charade
called show business
the charm
of that former life
has long since worn thin
the antidote to glamour
is working for a living
everything is hard work
slacking is the hardest of all
mind numbing boredom
scoops your insides out
fills the spaces with stardust
you bought a bag
of mumble beads
presumably
to ease the burden
of an empty existence
but the placebo of prayer
is like an opium dream
you can’t hold on
to what isn’t there
the momentary relief
gleaned from holy balsam
is the redemption
of stolen goods
in exchange
for empty promises
and vicarious atonements
are hollow gestures
for an audience of none
for no-one else sees
the trip you are on
.
I dragged
the low end
until I found
the hard edge
that’s how come
I lived for so long
sure, I’ve had
copious licks
on the sugar stick
since then
but I still know
where the heat
is stashed
and I’ll dig mine
before I dig yours
you’ll see them both
and appreciate
the signified
before I fill yours in
