dear reader

we are all of us acquainted with sorrow     and that being said       we’re maybe better for it      if that’s the natural order    and it seems to be   dear reader     we have suffered      we have suffered to our shame     I hope for your sake     that your greatest regret    in this season of regrets    was an affair of the heart     that’s where it counts      because that’s the best of us     that’s where we live      love and betrayal      it’s a fearsome thing     but the crimes we commit for love       are perhaps our saving grace       

an empire of lies

don’t worry          I’m not about to forgive you        it’s not my place to forgive you       people tell lies for all sorts of reasons           it doesn’t mean they are bad       it doesn’t make them wrong        sometimes we lie to spare the feelings of others         most of the time we lie because we are afraid            fear makes liars of us all          whole civilisations have been built on well-intentioned lies        I know you meant no harm       I’m sure you had the truth in mind        at some point in the future          this will be the past       I’ve already burned my diary     my last statement shall be ash        life     my friend       is fleeting        we shall leave no trace behind us        and our troubles       will have washed away     diluted in the oceans of time

ascension

 long about midnight      a certain time ago      someone spiked my tea      before they rifled through my drawers       may long standing repercussions     settle on their bones      he who laughs last…     well, let’s just wait and see…       I’m too cool to care    coz my head is full of stars      I’m only a poor boy with a bloody hammer      I get high       I get low     the symptoms are axiomatic    they’re no problem at all    it would take more than a lethal dose    to silence this fat mouth            

brother, you gave me a mountain     but I climbed it    what’s that the image of?       men heaving over mountains?   or drowning in their shadows?     a man needs a mountain      like a bullet needs a gun     a mountain’s a load for one back     but I’m drawn to the weight of it     like a moth on a fatal trajectory    simply coz it’s there     coz it’s in my path    I’m just a poor boy with a bloody hammer     I survived the assassin’s cup      and occasional subsequent avalanches      but I’ve been to the top of the mountain      and I have seen the world        

 

bourgeois heroes

the swill of propaganda     and the opiate of aspiration   are pumped out 24/7     in the age of sexualisation     fetishized  commodities     and prostituted love     

the name of the game is power      and all power stems from oppression        our courageous captains of industry      spread the ideology of cancer      in a torrent of greed and lust     

way up on mount olympus       cadres of billionaire demigods       are forging tickets to heaven      from second-hand clichés    and promissory notes     we’re left counting pennies      while they organise a society     where hideous pagan idols     are feasting on our blood

bluebottles

I was my natural self     being in a particular groove    when I was accosted by bluebottles     they was low types     full of guile and craft    and tried to locate my stash     by rifling my pockets     they were due a disappointment   coz I’d already imbibed      and was well off my rocker    yeah   herb means life, or so jah say     everybody’s doing it nowadays      I was indignant and stood on my rights      they got suss      and fled through the night      but the war on drugs is never over      we’re bound to meet again      on another sorry day

easter sunday

 let’s drink to resurrection      and poor boys coming home      to triumph over life and death     the second time around     you’ll believe what you want to       there ain’t no sin in that     but words are what men live by      and words were meant to count       some things linger on      in the universal mind      they’re neither fact nor fiction      but something in-between    jesus was a poet      and he’s alright by me        

outside women

another outside woman     is borrowing my clothes        she’s got my name and number       that’s about all she knows         she doesn’t bother to feed me      and I don’t really care       coz we’re only buying time       while her man’s not there       it’s become the well-worn ritual       we don’t talk that much       we keep it nice and simple     and communicate by touch      it’s a temporary arrangement      we can always walk away     but she likes to keep me stashed nearby    for a rainy day

problems

 I’m no slave to silence      I have the words     but I don’t use them all      you said I had a great face    the kind that’s been lived in        well it is      lived in  that is    died in too     but that’s another story       you said I was gifted      but that’s just a lie     I’m experienced      that’s what you bought      no social experiment     you bought a man      a man of flesh and blood     I fought the law     but I never did no time    they caged me in a hospital     they said I’d lost my mind       but minds are ten a penny     they’re not so hard to find     I’ve had problems      we’ve all had problems      but I used my imagination     to finally cut loose     what on earth did you do    when hard times came around?

good friday

was that love?     was it ever love?     transmitted from a distance      cloaked in the mysterious     it was a far greater thing…      and all that signifies    to sacrifice yourself     and the love the act implies    I said I’d give my life for you       but that was not enough    I had to forsake my family    and purchase your affections       with promissory notes…

pyrite

don’t mind me    I’m just a basic guy     with extravagant needs     but a man’s got to live      as he sees fit     there’s no secret ambition     burning holes in my pockets     I’ve got natural medicine      to spell me some cheer       they say it’s a weakness       but I don’t really care      some diversions are sacred       like words from the bible     so don’t shoot me down       until you hear what the deal is      your complete satisfaction     could be moments away

heavy arithmetic

it’s a heavy arithmetic       that measures out the hours     and subtracts the days      time spent more in hope than reason        our rusted factory eyes lack lustre     they’re fixed on horizons far away       where our dreams now live in exile      and yesterday’s tomorrows accumulate decay       is it true what I heard you say?       you made a binding promise       that you would wait forever     forever and a day

lizards

another billionaire turned out to be a lizard     but it didn’t really matter     he’s chairman of the board     coz money is good    when you earn enough     to buy a small planet     he’ll buy your affections      and swing your elections      coz your aspirations      are shaped by his ambition