poetomachia

suffering we are couched in despair
beholden to our mistreating thoughts
unwelcome, we find the door oft closed

hurt when you’re here
hurt when you hear
here when you hurt
hear when you hurt

i won’t let you ruin my good mood
no, i won’t let you, not ever, no never

you can rain, i will shine
i know you’re down, i feel fine

there’s more to be found
than a smile or frown

i won’t let your angry dark skies cover my sun
or cast a shadow on my day or way, i will run
i won’t let you, no never, not ever

go ahead, paint it gray or even black
no matter how the card’s are stacked
i know the motto, don’t look back
your mansion may be a shack
but i find riches in lack
and even these words can be seen as another attack

another fine time with friends and the little broken thing
which won’t mend, your heart from a different time
a moment which unforgotten gains strength and relevance
in every situation, how little how small
i won’t let you crush the new growth at all
no, i won’t let you, not never, no ever

Thank you for setting me straight
For showing me the path.

Thank you for pointing out my shortfalls
Thank you for lifting my fist
And wiping my face

I still enjoy your company
When you get lit
With truth

When I feel your falling
I come calling

I know just what to say
What you said to me when

You felt your words
Spelling themselves

In the forest
In the night
When your mom slept
And you dad wept
And the factory closed
And the crickets called you
Fool

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

whole heart
not just heart of hearts
the god
not just god of gods
life full
of compromise and reprieve
honest
all things always at odds

sleep too thick in your eyes
words that catch in the throat
a harsh word or a turn of
the face that gets my goat

maybe i’m not down but i’m out
caught here for all these days
i hold myself, back from the edge
almost comfortable in the shadows and haze

dazzling here amongst the trees
could you stand about, shuffle in
the needles and hold me in your smile awhile
i’ve decided to stay and keep wafflin’

let it begin inside where the fire
can’t be measured, heard, felt or sought
always ready to explode but never
the fury of the sun has come to naught

recognized a train boarded without a ticket
something found in the mouth spit out
trapped beneath these snow sheds and tunnels
could you be my passage out

i saw you on the bridge
and i loved you as the way
i recognized you at the well
and my thirst passed away