poetomachia

And I’m thinking about
A brand new hope
The one I’ve never known
Cause now I know
It’s all that I wanted

If Jesus could hear us now
bending all his words
of which he’s proud
but the carpenter was only
making invitations
voicing the opinions of others

sending down a word
that travels well
only as a vessel
as a bell
and the violence you’ve mistaken
in the words you took to be taken
and the images of hatred
against all that we’re worth
all that you love
all that you give
all we hold dear

If Mohammed could see us now
shaking down the walls
but not as prayer
and the power games that play out
and the lies that come within out
against all we are worth
all we hold dear
all that is true
all that we love
all we dream of
all that you give

The cross-town thugs have got the city

The only way out is through the middle

The waterfront is the target

The only way to it is bedlam

. . .

But bring your boots

In case it gets ugly

Now every cheap hood strikes a bargain with the
world
And ends up making payments on a sofa or a girl
Love ‘n’ hate tattooed across the knuckles of his hands
Hands that slap his kids around ’cause they don’t understand how

Death or glory becomes just another story
Death or glory becomes just another story

‘N’ every gimmick hungry yob digging gold from rock ‘n’ roll
Grabs the mike to tell us he’ll die before he’s sold
But I believe in this-and it’s been tested by research
he who fucks nuns will later join the church

Death or glory becomes just another story
Death or glory becomes just another story

Fear in the down sex
they say lie low
You say ok
don’t wanna play a show
No other thinking
was it death or glory now
Playing the blues of kings
sure looks better now

Death or glory just another story
Death or glory just another story

From every dingy basement on every dingy street
every dragging handclap over every dragging beat
That’s just the beat of time-the beat that must go on
If you’ve been trying for years we already heard your song

Death or glory becomes just another story
Death or glory just another story

Gonna march a long way
Fight a long time
Get to travel over mountains
Got to travel over seas
We’re gonna fight your brother
We’re gonna fight til you lose
We’re gonna raise trouble
We’re gonna raise hell
We’re gonna fight your brother
We’re gonna raise hell

Death or glory becomes just another story
Death or glory becomes just another story

Death or glory just another story
Death or glory becomes just another story

Tea leaves thwart those who court catastrophe,
designing futures where nothing will occur:
cross the gypsy’s palm and yawning she
will still predict no perils left to conquer.
Jeopardy is jejune now: naïve knight
finds ogres out-of-date and dragons unheard
of, while blasé princesses indict
tilts at terror as downright absurd.

The beast in Jamesian grove will never jump,
compelling hero’s dull career to crisis;
and when insouciant angels play God’s trump,
while bored arena crowds for once look eager,
hoping toward havoc, neither pleas nor prizes
shall coax from doom’s blank door lady or tiger.

I’ll tell you something.
I’m not one to lie,
but it might leave you feelin’ cold.
I’ve been a sinner
most of my life.
Dear God, have mercy on my soul.

You like the sunshine.
That’s not my way.
I need a hurricane
to wash my sins away.

I like the rain…
I like the rain washing over me.

Well, John the Baptist after torturing a thief
Looks up at his hero the Commander-in-Chief
Saying, “Tell me great hero, but please make it brief
Is there a hole for me to get sick in?”

The Commander-in-Chief answers him while chasing a fly
Saying, “Death to all those who would whimper and cry”
And dropping a bar bell he points to the sky
Saying, “The sun’s not yellow, it’s chicken”

I’ve had money
and I lost it
seen an ocean
nearly crossed it
I have been to another world
and I have returned
and for every high joy
a hard lesson learned
but when love comes tumbling down
I will wear a Crown

I’ve had power
I’ve used and abused it
tasted glory
I have wooed and refused it
tried to live in a sacred way –
I did and I did not
and for everything I lost
there’s been something else I got
and when love comes tumbling down
I will wear a Crown

I’ve been up and I’ve been down
sometimes almost level with the ground
once in every hundred years I can
still remember who I am

Been in danger
tried to face it
saw a mirage
and for seven years I chased it
I’m not through with my changes
I’ve got a long way still to run
I’m gonna play this show
even if nobody comes
and when love comes tumbling down
when love comes tumbling down
when love comes tumbling down
I will wear a Crown

how bout getting off these antibiotics
how bout stopping eating when I’m full up
how bout them transparent dangling carrots
how bout that ever elusive kudo

thank you india
thank you terror
thank you disillusionment
thank you frailty
thank you consequence
thank you thank you silence

how bout me not blaming you for everything
how bout me enjoying the moment for once
how bout how good it feels to finally forgive you
how bout grieving it all one at a time

thank you india
thank you terror
thank you disillusionment
thank you frailty
thank you consequence
thank you thank you silence

the moment I let go of it was the moment
I got more than I could handle
the moment I jumped off of it
was the moment I touched down

how bout no longer being masochistic
how bout remembering your divinity
how bout unabashedly bawling your eyes out
how bout not equating death with stopping

thank you india
thank you providence
thank you disillusionment
thank you nothingness
thank you clarity
thank you thank you silence