[Disciple]
O Father, how fortunate you were!
The desert’s silent ***** was your mother
You were reborn pure from the cave’s barren womb
Solitary, the Spirit alone was your Master

[Anthony]
No, my son, you are the blessed one
You need not seek shelter amidst the shifting dunes
Nor pursue proverbs in the echoing cave
For you hold the key to your earthly prison

Your demons have an “off” switch

[Disciple]
The pagans you fled sinned more nobly than I
For their gods of copper, gold, and stone
Were as grave as graven, stern and austere
They took first fruits and wine libations

My household gods of wire and screen
Are profligate faeries, far from divine
They glut themselves on only one sacrifice
No fruit nor flesh, but precious time

My enemies do not bind me with iron
My hands and feet are all too free
But my heart is void of empty space
Neurons and blood by media shackled

At a touch I can summon angels of lust
Phantom ****** to make Bacchus blush
Daring Venus turns away, ashamed
At our new religion of utter abandon

I am a pauper, suffocated by luxury
Industry poisoned by comfort’s surfeit
I carry idols in my pocket
And the neon glow never fades

Father, save me

[Anthony]
My son, you ask a hard thing,
But you will have it.

So long have you laughed in atmosphere absurd
That your lungs are too weak to breathe fresh air
So long have you danced with abandon in flight
That your feet are too soft to tread the coarse earth

But pretend at angelic fancy no more
Cut off your wings, and plummet
Plummet, with ultimate abandon
And break against the bedrock of reality

Crawl, crawl, ***** in the darkness
Drag yourself until your soul learns strength
Walk, walk, the narrower path
Climb, climb, the perilous ladder

The water from these streams is true
It will seem icy, hard, rude to your throat
But drink, drink, until you’ve learned wisdom
Till your poisoned palate learns again to taste

Courage, my son

The real world, the right way, the good life,
It will not grow softer
But you will grow stronger, alive
Till your heart learns to sing again

Courage, my son