Laid off
On the street

Children cry
I beg for change

Man shouts
"Get a job!"

Fearing the grey tomb
So much so you fail to live
Dead before your time

Sea choking airways
Ice water phantoms beckon
Stars fade beneath waves

Silent clown that mimics us
May you step before a bus
And vanish from our company
Gone from where you used to be
No more to follow us about
And snicker while we scream and shout
Your haughty face that paint conceals
Would look grand beneath those wheels
While the stain you leave behind
Would serve to warn the other mimes
Silent clown that mimics us
May you step before a bus

Now and Zen I think of things
I've never thunk before
I think
and think
and think
and think
Then sit and think some more.
When evening comes
I take my thoughts
and put them in a jar
Then stroll among the fireflies
and wish upon a star

The woman kept on nagging me
my friend that is no fib
I can't believe they made her
from my godforsaken rib
I wish she had a sister
or a sympathetic friend
Cuz if I hear another word
it might just be the end

I guess that God almighty
must have heard my faithful plea
She's found a talking serpent
in the garden by a tree
They sit and chat for hours
about what I do not care
As long as I am over here
and she is over there

I think it was a Sunday
when my troubles all began
She showed up with a present
from her slimy serpent friend
A single, perfect apple
that was beautiful and red
I should have been suspicious
but I took a bite instead

All at once I noticed
she was naked thru and thru
And a cold wind made me realize
that I was naked too
I looked around for something
that would cover up my shaft
She handed me a fig leaf
and gave a mocking laugh

I said 'you find this funny
but you need to realize
Something here is different
and some evil’s on the rise'
She pointed at my genitals
which left me void of pride
'The only thing that's rising
is that thing you're trying to hide'

I spun myself away from her
a perfect pirouette
I didn’t know for certain
just how big this thing would get
She laughed at my confusion
and snickered at my shame
‘You’re the only man I’ve ever known
but I bet you’re all the same’

I said ‘we need to focus
on the matter now at hand
Maybe that old rattlesnake
can tell us where we stand’
And as I spoke these words to her
The serpent slid away
He said ‘I’d love to stick around
but really, I can’t stay’

As soon as he had disappeared
the ground began to quake
Old Yahweh came before us
and he said ‘for goodness sake!
Did you guys eat the apples
from that sacred apple tree?’
I said ‘it was this woman here
who gave the fruit to me’

The woman said ‘that rattlesnake
has played an evil trick
He took me to the apple tree
and bade me take my pick
He said I would be as a God
the smartest on the block
But all that really happened
was I laughed at Adam's ****'

Things were going very bad
I came to realize
It's bad enough we ******* God
but why insult my size?
Then Yahweh said 'I've heard enough
and cannot let this pass'
He tossed me from the garden
and I landed on my ***

A half a second later
Eve was flying overhead
She cleared my mark by 15 feet
and landed on her head
Two angels at the garden gate
advised us not to linger
Despite their wings and flaming swords
Eve gave them the finger

I looked into her smiling eyes
and found I didn’t care
She looked extremely lovely
with her finger in the air
All at once I understood
where I was meant to be
I could deal with any hell on earth
if she was there with me

Well now it’s been a thousand years
and I kneel at her grave
The only thing I ever loved
alas I could not save
I cast my eyes into the sky
and think about the price
Yes Eden was a garden...

But she was paradise

Marveling at the mystery
of histories sardonic wit.
Six thousand years of
man’s inhumanity to
man chiseled in our
sacred Book for all
to see.
The face we show
the world a dark
mask better left in
shadow far away
from integrity's
flickering glow.
The three great
beasts that sprang
from Abraham’s
seed locked in
mortal combat
while the lion
eagerly waits
to devour the
carnage.

When the evening fades to shadow
and the moon is sailing high
I want to stay beside her
but I have to say goodbye
She smiles and says 'I love you'
and I know it’s all a lie
But the moonlight is bewitching
and there’s a twinkle in her eye

I kiss her very softly
as she lays upon the bed
I try to weigh my options
but the wines gone to my head
The room begins revolving
around all the things she said
But concentrations fading
and reasoning is dead

I wake up when it’s over
and wish it hadn’t been
I curse the empty bottle
and swear it off again
I fumble for my wrist watch
and it’s a quarter after ten

And I hate myself for wanting her

While I’m wanting her again.

It’s just so **** frustrating
all this ignorance and war
It gets my mind to thinking
what the Hell is it all for

Half a million dying
for some worthless desert sand
No matter how they moralize
I just don’t understand

It seems to me that freedom
can’t be purchased with a gun
But hey the folks in Washington
they’ve got to have their fun

They’ll tell you Christ is coming
so you’d better pick a side
Cuz’ if you ain’t a Christian
There will be no place to hide

Tuck me in and say goodnight
and everything will be alright
and all the pain can wait another
day

Close my door a little bit
and keep my snoopy nightlight lit
and I will tell myself that it’s
ok

If I wake, I don’t much care
The day renews the old nightmare
and sleep’s the only freedom
that I know

A sunny smile cannot hide
the emptiness I feel inside
The sadness that I pray they’ll
never know

I miss the childhood that I've lost
Those scars came at an awful cost
There’s no one to confide my
deepest fear

I am so tired and broken down
The world goes by without a sound
I feel much older than my seven
years...

The rain was coming down so hard
it drenched me to the bone
I saw a wooden structure
in the distance all alone
I made my way unto the door
and shouted loud and clear
Old Noah popped his head out
and said 'son get out of here!'

The door slammed shut abruptly
and I stood there like a fool
This wasn't like old Noah
to be acting so uncool
I pressed my ear up to the door
and thought I heard a goat
Then all at once I realized
this structure was a boat

A boat indeed filled to the top
with horses, sheep, and fowl
And every other kind of beast
that clucks or brays or howls
I knocked again and shouted
to be heard above the din
'It's raining pretty hard out here
come on and let me in!'

Old Noah shouted through the door
'I'm sorry but I can't
I'd welcome you most gladly
if you were a duck or ant'
'A duck? You must be joking
now come on and let me in
The water's rising very fast
it's nearly to my chin'.

I’m sorry I don’t make the rules
and I don't mean to be rude
But I’ve got a lot of work to do
so friend I guess you’re *******”
‘In the name of God I’m begging you’
I pleaded and I cried
I’m going to die right here and now
if you don’t let me inside!’

The door flew open suddenly
and Noah gave a frown
‘Well get your *** inside the ark
before you go and drown!’
Most happily I came inside
but Noah looked quite ******
'We're going to be in trouble boy
when God gets wind of this!'

'But I'm sure that God all mighty
would not be so unkind
You showed me love and mercy
when you rescued my behind'
Old Noah clenched an angry jaw
and furled a mighty brow
'I don't think that you understand
the situation now

God was most specific
on who could take this ride
If he knew I let you in here
he would have my ancient hide'
Then all at once the heavens cleared
and the water ceased to fall
the birds were singing happily
and the sun was standing tall

Noah stood in disbelief
confusion on his brow
He shouted out unto the sky
'What do I do now?!?'
He stood for several minutes
as if waiting for a sign
Then grabbed a piece of parchment
and began a simple line

'For forty days and forty nights
the wind is going to blow
and the rain will fall in buckets
unto the earth below
And evil then will parish
leaving Noah and his crew
and about a million animals
to begin the world anew'

'Hold on there!' I scrutinized
'You're story is absurd'
But Noah kept on scribbling
as if he hadn't heard.
'There was no flood'
I pointed out
'So why tell folks this lie?'
Old Noah put his pen down
and he gave a weary sigh

'A couple thousand years from now
when people reads these lines
They're going to think me quite a guy
for saving all mankind
In fact I think I much prefer
this version of events
At least my future progeny
won't think that I was bent'

I must admit his logic
made a lot of sense to me
The man had built a massive boat
ten miles from the sea
His character could not withstand
a thousand years of shame
And if I were in Noah's shoes
I might just do the same

Sanctimonium
Somewhere out there
beyond the darkness of
unknowing
Past imagination and
just to the left of a dream,
lurks the ego we call God
Hovering forever on the
edge of the psyche
Hungering for the prayers
of sodden beggars and
be-sodden Holy frauds

What does it say about
mankind that we have
created for ourselves
a deity filled with
self-righteous fury,
lacking any mercy
for humanity’s frail
offspring?

We are religious masochists,
chaining our lives to the
delusion of original sin while
hanging truth upon a cross
of shadow and superstition
for the sake of a Heavenly
reward.

God help us...

Open wide and
hide inside
I can't abide
this shattered
life.
The strife
The pain
The insane nights
that shatter dawns
eternal light

My happy dream
seems silly now
in light of mercy’s
boorish joke
She spoke a word
and left me dry
Absurd, alone
to wonder why

But truth be told
I do not care
These uncouth
jokes and life unfair
Are symptoms of a
foolish dream
I've conjured up
within a scream

And stifled though
this howl maybe,
it preserves a grain
of sanity
That just may save
me in the end from
what they tell
me is pretend.

And Jesus said, "He who drinks from my mouth will become as I am and I shall be he"

Gnostic Gospel of Thomas vs. 108


1
They sang and
they danced in
praise of the
Savior

And I left the church

I walked quickly
and I was at the
water's edge.
A man waist deep
offered to baptize
me in the name
of the Lord...

And I did not stop

Further on, a sorrowful
Mother asked if perhaps
I knew of her son
Jesus…

But I pretended not to hear.

In the forest
the twelve
approached me
with a message
of good news...

But I paid them no mind.

2
And when I came
to a clearing I met
a young man whom
I had always known.

His beard was unkempt
and blood was dripping
from wounds in his hands
and feet.

A crown of thorns sat
upon his head, and blood
trickled down his cheek.

'Do you know me?' he asked.

'Of course I know you!' I shouted.
'I left you behind at the church!
At the river, one of your followers
sought to baptize me and along the
road a Mother spoke your name.

In the forest, your apostles
confronted me with your
message.
Did I not take my leave
of them all?
I thought I was rid of you,
yet here you stand

Tell me! Why do you haunt me?
Why can I not leave you behind?'

3
He grabbed my shoulders
and I felt the pain in all
of my body and in all
of my being
and he asked me again:

'Do you know who I am?'

'You are the Christ!' I cried
'And I have heard your
story from every church and
holy man in the kingdom.
But I want nothing to do
with you!

I want only to leave you
behind and live my life

At this he looked into
my eyes and as his
penetrating stare drew
my senses to his being,
his face began to change.

He was one of the
singing parishioners at
the church.
Then another,
and another until the
likeness of each one
was in him.

Then he was the
man in the river
and the Mother,
and every one
of the twelve
and I stared
in disbelief

He began to take
on the appearance
of everyone I had
ever known and
even those I would
never meet.

His face was changing rapidly:
African, Asian, Spaniard, European,

From every race and every creed
he became everyone who ever was
and everyone who ever will be…

A few I recognized.

Mohamed, Caesar, the Buddha,
Pontius Pilate, Krishna, Herod,
Moses, Pharaoh.

Faster and faster he changed until
I was dizzy with incomprehension.
Then, as quickly as it had begun,
the celestial parade ceased.

He was Jesus again, standing before me.
His hands and feet caked in blood.
The crown of thorns still resting atop
his head.

4
'I do not understand,' I said.

And he smiled.

And again he looked into my eyes.

'You can never leave me behind.'

And as he spoke he began to change again,

And I found myself standing before another image.

One I surely knew well.

There…

In the clearing of a forest
that existed beyond the boundaries
of space and time,

I looked into my own eyes...

And understood.

We could not go out
Man were we *******
So we sat in the house
and ate all the food
We ate all the popcorn,
the peanuts and candy
And washed it all down
with whatever was handy

A knock on the door made
us pause from our feast
Then the door opened wide
and in walked the Priest
Soaked to the bone
from his head to his
toes
He said "someone help
me get out of these clothes".

Then the Priest looked
around, and then what
did he see?
He picked
out two somebody's
Billy and me

He took off his collar
and undid his pants
and with a wink and
a smile he started to
dance
He asked us to help
him remove all the
rest
And said we could all
play a game called
'undressed'
"A very fun game
I will show it to you
And I promise that no
one will mind if I do"

But our fish said
"Oh no, make that
Priest go away!
Tell that Priest
without pants
you do NOT
want to play!
He SHOULD NOT be
here promising
fun!
He SHOULD NOT be
here with his trousers
undone!"

"But I came here
to play" said the
half-naked Priest
"I know a few games
You should try them at least
These games are quite fun
I will show them to you
They involve sleeping
pills and a six pack or
two"

Then true to his word the
Priest cracked a beer
And invited us over with
a mischievous leer
“A sip of this stuff will
not cause any pain
Take a swig and I’ll
show you a new little
game"

"Put that down!” said our fish
“Make that Priest go away!
Tell that Priest without pants
you do NOT want to play!
He SHOULD NOT be here
promising fun!
He SHOULD NOT be here
with his trousers undone!"

But Billy and I were
a rebellious pair
And to be offered
beer was incredibly
rare
So we each grabbed
a cold one and in
one mighty swig
We downed 16 oz
like a couple of
pigs

And soon (very soon)
the room started to spin
And I vaguely remember
the Priest’s evil grin
And the sound of his
laughter as his shorts
hit the floor
And his clod hopping
footsteps as he locked
our front door

Then he took a few steps
towards Billy and me
and we shivered and shook
when he touched Billy's knee
Then all of a sudden,
or it seemed so at least
Billy threw up on the
***** old Priest
Yes up came the popcorn
the peanuts and beer
And covered the Priest
from his feet to his ear

Then without warning
and almost on cue
I started barfing
when Billy was through
The Priest gave a cry
and then lickity split
He ran from the room
(the ***** old ****)
He grabbed up his garments
and sped from our home
On his way out the door
he dropped his cell phone

So calmly and coolly
I called the newspaper
and then the police
to report the old *****
I said "you can't miss him
he turned left on Duke
He's completely naked
and covered in puke"
And within thirty minutes
the cops had their man
They booked him and
tossed him right into
the can

Then I turned to Billy
and gave him a smile
The Priest was in jail
and awaiting a trial
But Billy was pale
and didn’t look good
He seemed almost frozen
in the place where he stood
He had to sit down
and he looked pretty weak
Then he asked "when the hell
did our fish learn to speak?"

I walked up to the pearly gates
and rang the golden bell
Saint Peter popped his
head out and he gave a hearty yell

He said 'what are you doing here
you're supposed to be alive?'
I said 'I blew my brains out
with a magnum 45'

'In that case I can't let you in'
Saint Peter sadly said
'You've got to take the
dark road to that other place instead'

I thanked him for his kindness
and he sent me on my way
I turned onto that evil road
and slowly walked away

The path was long and winding
and the scenery was bare
It reminded me of Kansas
when Dorothy lived there

I seemed to walk for hours
but it could have been much more
Then up ahead I saw a light
behind a wooden door

A man appeared quite suddenly
from where, I do not know
He said 'my name is Lucifer
but you can call me Joe'

He led me to the wooden door
and gave a mighty shove
The thing swung open slowly
and a light shone from above

To my surprise I did not see
the brimstone, flame or tar
Just a band of really happy folks
all drinking at a bar

Virginia Woolf and Hemingway
were sitting with Van Gogh
While Kurt Cobain was sipping wine
with Magdalene Kahlo

And Lenny Bruce was telling jokes
that made Cleopatra blush
And Hunter T. wrote frantically
As always, in a rush

Old Joe he only grinned at me
and slapped me on the back
'You didn't really think that
I would torture Kerouac?'

He called out to the bartender
and soon I had a brew
'I must admit" I said to him
before my beer was through

‘I expected something different
in the land of pain and dread'
Old Joe gave me a wicked smile
and this is what he said:

'Take a look around you son
and tell me what you see'
I saw ten thousand people
not including Joe and me

And suddenly it hit me like a
bolt out of the blue
'All these people left the world
before their time was due'

Joe finished up his bottle and
he tossed it in the sand
He said 'son every one of them
has died by their own hand

You see they lived their Hell on earth
on that you can't deny
They know what pain is really like
so I don't even try'

So friends I am still sitting here
it's been a year or so
Tomorrow night I've got a date
with Marilyn Monroe

We're going to see Hendrix
at the Fillmore down below
And the word is Janis Joplin
will be opening the show

And I don't believe that Heaven
could exact a higher praise
They can keep their harps and
trumpets...

I prefer my Purple Haze

My mom came in and caught me
playing with my bone
She said ‘my God! oh Jesus!
won’t you leave that thing alone!’
I said ‘I’m sorry mother
but you really should have knocked.
Instead you barged right in here
and you caught me with my ****’.

She said ‘I guess I shouldn’t have
just walked right through the door
But honestly I had no clue
of what you had in store
I think you need to find a girl
who’s pretty and refined
I think that if you keep this up
you're liable to go blind

I told her that was non-sense
An old religious lie
She said 'get dressed
and come with me
and Christ pull up your fly
I'm taking you to see the priest
he'll fix your problem quick'
I said 'it's him who taught me
how to fiddle with my *****'.

My mother gasped in horror
then she boxed my little ears
She put me flat across her lap
and spanked my little rear
She said 'how dare you say
such things about a man of God
I hope that when he sees you
that he doesn't spare the rod'.

I said 'I doubt that mother
and I think it is a sin
That all us little altar boys
should take it on the chin
But either way it matters not
whatever may transpire
For a man of God is never wrong
while a boy is just a liar'

Sitting round the barbecue
there's Paddy, Jeff and me
Mary is on Paddy's right
as happy as can be
Kath is sitting next to Jon
while Chrissy chats with Fay
Paddy passes round the brew
on an orange, plastic tray

Someone grabs a guitar
and begins a happy song
No one knows the melody
but still we sing along
Over comes old Lucifer
his hooves are keeping time
Three hot dogs on his pitch fork
(and one of them is mine)

"I hate to break this up" he says
"the boss is on his way
And if we don't pass muster
then there will be Hell to pay
So put away that beer my friends
and hide that barbecue
Now everyone look miserable
and maybe we'll get through".

A golden light came shining in
as Jesus crossed the room
Paddy swung a pick ax
and I swept with a broom
And Lucifer he cursed at us
and cracked an evil whip
And then a half gone Fosters
went and fell from Paddy's hip.

You could have heard a pin
drop as that bottle hit the floor
Lucifer just shook his head
he knew what was in store
But Jesus Christ he grabbed
that brew and gave a wicked smile
"For an ice cold pint of Fosters
I would walk a country mile"

So the joint again was rockin’
And Jesus lead the way
He said “if it were up to me
I think that I would stay”
Then he downed another bottle
And he said ‘oh by the way,
My dad would not be cool with
this so hold your tongues, ok?"

We never let the secret slip
and all is right and well
And if you’d like to join
us at this barbecue in Hell
Then we have a simple rule
you see, that everyone abides
You can come and go eternally
but religion stays outside.

I looked outside my window
and man what did I see
An angel and a devil
they were sitting in
my tree
And on a branch between them
hung an apple ruby red
I asked them what the deal was
and this is what they said:

“A man he has two choices
and soon he must decide
He can follow the instructions
or throw them to the side
The world is made of black and white
so friend it’s pretty clear
Now kindly make your mind up
and we’ll both be out of here”

I said “you must be joking
there are rainbows everywhere
And fifty different shades of grey
on which we can compare
There's up and down and left and right
and places in between
And a million different colors
that I've never even seen

"No, it's really simple"
said the angel and his friend
"And the sooner that you make
your choice the sooner this will
end
You see we're really busy
and I think it's going to snow
So make your mind up quickly
cuz' we've really got to go"

I said "I must apologize
for I will not decide
I will not play your silly game
on that you can abide
So you might as well get comfortable
yes make yourselves at home
You're going to be up in that tree
until the cows come home"

Well friends that was ten years ago
and still I see them there
They give me the most ***** looks
but I don't really care
They've made their own decision
to sit up in that tree
And if they freeze their ***** off
than what is it to me?

I treat all people kindly
and I'd help you if you fell
And if that isn't good enough
I guess I'll rot in hell
But I think I'll have good company
on this I'm pretty clear
Surrounded by a feast of friends,
and plenty of good cheer

Sitting on a park bench
cutting up a pear
Having me a talk with
a guy who wasn't there
People passing by, they
all gave me funny stares
But I just kept on talking
to the guy who wasn't
there
Then a man in uniform
said 'son come on with me.
You’re scaring all these
people with this friend
they cannot see.
I’ll take you to a special
place and they’ll give you
lots of care
And they’ll help you with
this fantasy of talking to
the air'
I said 'well OK officer
I’ll gladly come with you
But what about the thousand
folks all sitting in the pew?
I saw them at St. Timothy's
all packed in like sardines
Talking to some other guy
that no one's ever seen
So I think it would be prudent
And I think it's only fair
That you send a couple
buses for them people
over there.
Then take the great big lot
of us yes all one thousand
one
Over to that special place
you mentioned in line one
Or maybe it was line thirteen
in truth I do not care
As long as we can all converse
with the guy who isn't there.

The ground is shaking
(or maybe the bed)
Visions of Avalon dance
in my head
The serpent of Eden
asleep in my bed
While blues and yellows
melt into red.

‘Listen!’
a voice whispers
‘And I will tell you why
the Savior bled:

'Do not tell lies
or do what you hate
and all shall be known
before Heaven's gate
For all that is hidden,
no longer concealed
And nothing unknown
will remain unrevealed’.

Waking in darkness
the moonlight surrounds
Something has shifted
yet remains out of bounds
Outside my window
in darkness I see
Two serpent eyes
in the old apple
tree

There's darkness
rising in the land

Strange dead
hands reaching
through the ether
to drag souls back
to oblivion's
devastating abyss

Oh, never mind...

It's just the Tea Party

The decay of
imagination
and compassion.

What never
should have
been has become.

When the seed of love
is smothered by the weeds
of desperation and the fires
of Hell scorch in the breast
the withered heart of man
then you will understand.

You mock me with
your translucent vanity
fashioning mythical
visions of a man beyond
my humble station
How can I hope to
fulfill your jaded
expectations when
my only unique
impulse is original sin
(which isn't all that
original anymore).
In a world of carbon
copied beige you expect
me to stand head and
shoulders above
mediocrity...

Ok Father.
I'll try

In the days since our beginning
and the moments since our end
We accept the true reality
and forget how to pretend
And await the coming savior
or the latest fad and trend
but you find you can’t buy
happiness no matter what
you spend
Forgiveness is elusive
Redemption is sublime
And occasionally there’s
solace in the whiskey or
the wine
But you'll never find
salvation while kneeling
in the pew
Jesus left the building
but the Christ resides
in you.

Lost between the squalid scene
of sadness, blood and death the
dream surrounds.
Waking, shaking in the night
forsaken absence of sunlight
abounds.
Silence lingers in the dark
a sudden flash, electric spark
enlightens.
In the shade the lemonade
trickles down the colonnade
sublime.
Knowing that it isn’t real the
morning sun cannot conceal
delusion.
Walking, talking, life and
death, reality is only an
illusion

The owl and the ***** cat
went to sea in a boat
without an oar
When the boat sailed home
the cat was alone
and the owl was no more

Hey ****** ******
I’ll tell you a riddle
and I bet you’ll never guess
That Jack B. Nimble
was Jack B. Quick
beneath Miss Muffet’s
dress

Little Sol Hornstein
sat next to Maureen
eating his Christmas
pie
He stuck in his fork
and pulled out some pork
And said ‘what a bad
Jew am I’.

Wee Willie Winkie
Tiptoes through the house,
Upstairs, downstairs
Quiet as a mouse.
Closing every window,
Locking every door,
Drinking all his daddy’s beer
And barfing on the floor

The hippy dippy spider
went uptown to score
He got a bag of ****
from the hippy dippy
store
He smoked up all that
**** with his hippy
dippy friends
So the hippy dippy spider
went uptown again

There was a crooked man
Who walked a crooked mile
He met a crooked woman
Who wore a crooked smile
He brought her to his crooked house
And upon his crooked bed
He had his crooked way with her
(And now the ***** is dead)

(And from an old restroom wall)

Georgie Porgie, puddin' and pie,
Kissed the girls and made them cry
When the boys came out to play
(He kissed them too cuz' he was gay)

Upside down in the void.
Annoyed by priests and
politicians who feast at
the trough of the ignorance
of mankind, blind to the
devastation their righteous
proclamations heap upon
Eden’s polluted shore.
Babylon’s ***** holds firm
their fate in her celestial grasp.

Standing before perdition’s
impartial flame, the liar,
the killer, and salvation's thief...

Dante’s imagination could not
conceive a suitable torment for
your lamentable offenses.

A bitter poison spiked with the blood of a
thousand sages ebbs in a chalice at the foot
of the altar.

These soft ripples guide fools the way to oblivion.

Liquid solitude cascades over the parishioners
leading many to believe in the myth of inner
peace.
By morning all will grasp reality for a transitory
instant, cursing their miserable lives while praying
in earnest for autumn's obscure redemption.

By nightfall, they will return to the temple...

I play my songs
for nobody
In sacred fields
of strawberry
Imagining
the world of man
much better than
I understand

While changing chords
from C to A
I watch the children
laugh and play
They run around
with happy grins
oblivious to shades
of skin

I change again
from A to F
and wonder if
the world is deaf
The songs of love
the children sing,
To jaded ears
don't mean
a thing

Every now and then I wonder why
our God should be found under
steeples made of stone and mortar
heedless of our sad despair
It seems to me He should awaken
In the hearts of those forsaken
(and by the way this condemnation
seems to be a bit unfair)

It wasn't I who in the garden ate the
fruit and begged His pardon
Bringing forth such pain and sorrow
to this world so long ago
I think it simply far from normal
that a God who stands on formal
etiquette and rules of order should
forgiveness not bestow

A God so fond of preaching mercy
Through each member of His clergy
Every Sunday without fail should
perhaps His own words heed
For if this world and all its sorrow
Is to see a bright tomorrow
Then we must create a garden
where no child or Savior bleeds

I think I’m crazy
But it’s a feeling that comes and goes
You say I’m lazy
But I really don’t think you know
I’m somewhere in between
But I don’t know what you think I mean
When that old Jack Daniels gets me down

I see double
But I love you both the same
If I'm in trouble
Then please let me explain
The drinks were two for one
I didn't think that I'd come undone
but that old Jack Daniels got me down

You're my lady
And we really did have some fun
So I'm thinkin' maybe
If you would kindly put down that gun
You and I could talk
Or maybe just take a little walk
Cause' that old Jack Daniel's got me down

Here comes Jesus
from his tomb
With baskets full
of gloom and doom
Judgment, famine,
pestilence and war

He says the end
is coming soon
I wish he’d sing
a different tune
Something that
we haven’t heard
before

He’s got Aids for Tommy
Parkinson’s for Sister Sue
There’s an STD for Mommy
(Daddy hasn’t got a clue)

Here comes Jesus
from his tomb
With baskets full
of gloom and doom
Judgment, famine,
pestilence and war

Maybe if you’re
extra good
And try to do
the things you
should
He won’t come
around here
anymore

You’ll wake up one morning
and you’ll know he isn’t there
And you will see the smiles
on the children everywhere

Oh here comes Jesus
from his tomb
With baskets full
of gloom and doom

Hippity, hoppity
what a ******* day!

Ok I’m here
Where are my virgins?
What? You mean those toothless
old ladies with the warts and sagging ****?
No no! I mean the 72 young hotties the
Koran promised would be waiting for me
when I arrived.
What’s that?
You say the Kennedy brothers
got to them first and this is all that’s
left?

**** Americans!

Demons on the perimeter
stalking serenity’s
unsuspecting bliss.
Is this all that's left?
Once mighty defenses
now offer little protection
against these ancient,
clawing phantoms.
Shadows lurking
in the forest of the
psyche, await nightfall's
indifferent embrace
Alas my redeemers.
Tiny painted disks
that beat back
reality's assailants
while extinguishing
the last threads
of creativity that yet
remain.
The strain on tattered
nerves almost too much
to bare
I care not what punishment
is wrought from these efforts
to remain sane in the light
of an unforgiving God.
My mind is mangled beyond
repair.

Who is there left to call 'friend'?

Who before me dared look
into your pale heart and
question your decrees?
Not the Jew
Not the Muslim
Not the Hindu
Not the Buddhist
And certainly not
the Christian
None
Before me there was
no one with the courage
to stand before you,
yet here I am
The Albigensian
The seeker of divinity’s
original light, here before
you to reclaim what was
taken from us by sightless
fanatics nineteen centuries
ago.

Forgotten in a hell
begotten within the
confines of my own
depraved imagination

Will there be no end to
time spent wasting away
in the shadow of Babylon’s
polluted shore?

A poor, condemned wretch
wandering this wasteland
devoid of the prospect
of Heaven's divine
redemption.

I'm naught but a reflection
of the vanity I embraced
in a lifetime of dismal
remembrances.

The mercy of perdition's
flame would be a welcome
alternative to wandering
endlessly in this darkness
fashioned by my own
hand.