Tremors

we felt tremors - but we ignored them

when cracks appeared we just filled them

with scrap metal and toxic waste

the world rattled as she screamed and tore

and we tried to ignore that too

but we all bunkered up for the bat flu

it seemed the world had turned on us

just as we had turned on each other

we fell in with dank villains and petty tyrants

and we pledged allegiances to avaricious gods

some of us tried to follow the way

so far as we were allowed

don’t get me started on the games people play

it’s hard to harmonise with nature

when you are a parasite and a killer

….

Bleached

my bones ache

I’m infected

with ghosts

the kind that grind

a man to dust

this confinement

withers me

desiccated notes

and ancient rituals

crowd my nights

with recollection

I shield my eyes

from the righteous

dread vibrations

of straw witnesses

and trial by radiation

Grease

the committee gave me

the full inquisition

but my numbers were good

so I got a pat on the back

and sent on my way

they couldn’t tell

I’d cooked the books

to an old family recipe

where the left hand don’t know

who the right hand is screwing

I’m not dishonest

I’m just being realistic

everybody does it

and only a fool would starve

when there’s gravy to be had

I’m not a greedy man

I don’t take enough

to get myself noticed

I simply skim the cream

on its way to the top

Distant Suns

the light from distant suns

shines on when they are gone

but when our day is done

will our lights shine on?

shall the lights of men

ever be seen again?

or will others of our kind

say that we were blind?

King Of The Clowns

steal me a blanket

and let me lay down

there’s no grace in heaven

none that I’ve found

twelve strange disciples

from holier ground

sold me some garbage

and an antique crown

I’m lord of this shithole

and king of the clowns

Fleas

thought is the most courageous crime

but you must go beyond the static of the tribe

and their blandishments of mediocrity

you best conduct your business in ciphers

or they will know you ain’t from round here

because they don’t take to outsiders

they ain’t intimidated by reason

and they’re offended by science

they have a wizard to guide them

all facts are false and reality is negotiable

in his machiavellian flea circus

he says jump and they ask how high?

they do as they’re told

but they don’t know why

.

Death Songs

I’m awake

I get your algebraic

you talk in tongues

a greasy word salad

of butchered truths

and fantastic remedies

that signify your filth

and lack of imagination

just another outrigger

of the one big lie

you are totally artificial

and your computations

always add up to zero

we were all witnesses

to your empty promise

that we’d stand together

when game got rough

but where were you

when we were singing

our death songs?

Trojan Horses

the origins of chaos

lay far beyond the stars

and issue wicked messengers

who ride on trojan horses

as minions of the beast

to visit hell upon us

and render us as meat

these forces of entropy

amplify our fears

and wash our orphan faces

with soft and bitter tears

Pariah

daily bulletins

solemn in tone

spoon fed the public

in their private cells

they spoke of unity

and pulling together

they were organising

punishment squads

for the less enthusiastic

that’s how it begins

with a consensus

forged in fear

in a crueller world

we indulge in the

animal satisfaction

of stolen meat

and take succour

in bitter news

from next door

I’m getting shady looks

from the boys in blue

they know a viral load

when they see one

I always kept to myself

I guess I deviated

from the herd immune

I’m a marked man

at risk and alone

The Happy Warrior

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

Passover

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

2020

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