A Thousand Suns

back in the day

we had idiot sanctuaries

moored offshore

on the emerald ocean

where fat cats

would call the shots

for the man

who called the shots

before the last nations fell

the top banana

sat on a gilded throne

while continental flunkies

manned his 24 hour hotline

he had a legal mandate

to commit the perfect crime

no-one ever saw him coming

but everybody knew

from his bloody footprints

exactly where he had been

he was the master of ceremonies

for the great false dawn

they say that it shone brighter

than a thousand suns

.

Dandelion

she always returned affection

she said she felt obliged

I told her she was easy

and she did not reply

.

Vampires

there’s a niche

for every parasite

within the human zoo

where there’s pain

there is also gain

in a bitter economy

where one man’s sorrow

might be the cause

of another’s rejoicing

.

Inca

don’t tell me

how bad it is

I already know

it’s suicide season

and I’m all out of bullets

but geared up for excess

bicarbonate of coca

the ancient inca curse

smother me with candy kisses

take this poor boy home

it’s the last big deal

coughing up rocks

and surfing on air

but it’s all good

at twice the price

they’re shanking junkies

down in the park

bloody lubricant

for a vicious mechanism

those black market forces

can be so exacting

but my hands are clean

I’m just a regular punter

looking for fun

.

Poppies

all the pretty soldiers

got their death heads on

it’s a morbid culture

where we sanctify sacrifice

but sponsor its betrayal

we murdered the enemy

we were only following orders

not that much has changed

it’s a different religion

but the same old excuses

we gather poppies in peacetime

to decorate the graves

of those whose lives we’ve stolen

but no-one can explain to us

just why they had to die