Muzzle Up

of all things now
and nothing later
wring out your covid sheets
lockdown your positive membranes
you're getting a raw deal
your kind always does
you're the proud citizen
of an idiot nation
you won't muzzle up
because you have rights
all lives matter you say
but some more than others
it's always been that way

Babylonians

they stole my breath away   those burning babylonians   I was with them   at least in spirit   I'd tear the whole thing down   and grind the rubble to dust   let some vital spark      borne by angels   towards the promise of better tomorrows   be forged in fire and prayer     I want to feel that heat on my face    the barricades and burnt out squad cars   the looter shooters   and lambs to slaughter      this world is old    bring on the next   i have a hard on for dread vibrations    we are witness to the death row convulsions  of a dying culture    but we can foment a new paradise    if we learn to live as children    beneath the mother sun

The Great Grimaldi

heavy weighs the crown

on your crooked brow

you’re master of inanities

and king of all the clowns

but that sugar breath of yours

smells of shit to me

for you have shovelled moths

into your gaping maw

and you’re wearing kind of thin

tell me of that vision narcotic

you pass off as your own

it has the familiar flavour

of someone else’s gum

you got no metal in your veins

or I’d simply cut you down

but I’d be just as happy

if you no longer came around

.

Mutton

there are skag villains neatly
bungalowed  on every suburban street
and there are fleshy instructors
festering in every tenement close
I've seen uncle bluebeard
and his tribe of mutant terriers
cashing subs at the post office
they normalised incompetence
so that he could claim disability
the poison radiates outward
from the point of corruption
I picked mine up at school
because I was paying attention
all justice is arbitrary
and rope is for lynchings
there is comfort within the flock
but we must obey the dog

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

.