Pagliacci

 

I have played the clown     most of my adult life      my humour concealed my pain     though sometimes I would weep    when laughter let me down     I’ve been careful with my mask      it’s been no mask at all     I’ve been up     I’ve been down     my heart has done the rounds      but I learned through indiscretion      to never wear a frown     I’m not a clever man     but I do the best I can     I’m told god grants fools wisdom        when there’s no one else around

wonderful

 

the people I have known    the places I have been    I’d bring them all back tomorrow     to do it all again    I’d gorge myself on life     without the burden of shame     the sex     the drugs    the rock n roll      I’d grasp without restraint    because the first time was a trip    and it was wonderful      so given the opportunity     I’d relive it all once more    

deep and wide

 

see them circle?       they scent blood     people are like sharks       some more than others      those are the ravenous souls      always on the prowl       reflexive killers     without a trace of conscience        and just like fucking sharks     if they stop moving – they suffocate   

you need some gimmick    if you want to eat       four walls and a TV    to keep you off the street    you need a home      you need a wife      you need the things that make a life    but this can prove a burden      things can drag you down      other men have found this      some of them have drowned

perhaps the sharks feasted      on those forgotten heroes     but I’m not here for souvenirs     so I’ll kick on regardless     cold blooded killers     make unpredictable companions     the ocean here is deep and wide      its denizens are fearless     so I learned to dart and weave and dive     I glide just like a dolphin    that’s how I managed to remain alive      where better men have fallen

 

author, author

 

I don’t just do this for fun     I do it because I ran out of options     I know I don’t write that well       but I’m ready to bleed across your screen     or pull my knickers down     expose my arse to the world    I’m speaking metaphorically     of course      coz I’m taking a hit - that feels just like a kiss…    when I wrote that down    I felt a little high      I don’t know what you’d call that    and I don’t really care       there’s nothing written here        that can’t later be denied

I am the resurrection

 

I’d been rubbed out   cancelled from existence      stretched beyond endurance      and consigned to rot in hell      but when I received my discharge papers   on that glorious sun drenched morning     I was released from an unforgiving nightmare    I’d found victory   pinioned to the cross      I returned to the beauty I have always known     I am clean    I am redeemed      I am love