Mongrels and Misfits
Page 8
When the ice you tread is fragile in the endless winter night
And below its frozen surface are the memories within
The water will still haunt you until you give it some release
As a wound must bleed to cleanse itself again
Celebrate your anger, and be baptized in your tears
For a wisdom lives within you, as only you can know
Prepare yourself for battle, and your flight into the storm
And you must take some fire when you go
Like the kindness of a stranger who sees you safely home
Your fury will propel you to that freedom you desire
That spark that once eluded you now illuminates your smile
And it comes when you take fire
When the need for instant comfort leads you to the poisoned stream
As it strips you of your armor and lances you with pain
When the mask you wear of silence bears a stoic web of scars
And there are secrets you no longer can contain
When a phantom terror drains you of the life you never knew
When your spirit of survival is exhausted to the core
When the sadness of unlearning lies behind your tired eyes
Of one who’s seen it all and then some more
Celebrate your anger, and be baptized in your tears
For a wisdom lives within you, as only you can know
Prepare yourself for battle, and your flight into the storm
And you must take some fire when you go
Like the kindness of a stranger who sees you safely home
Your fury will propel you to that freedom you desire
That spark that once eluded you now illuminates your smile
And it comes when you take fire
It comes when you take fire
It comes when you take fire
Incubated in her chrysalis
A life-sustaining iron coffin
They proclaimed that that was the only way
That she could ever survive
They tried to turn her beauty against her
By deeming her a fragile creature
She did not know that she could roar
Or had fangs to keep herself alive
When she wakes from her hibernation
She’s going to remember that she’s a tiger
By some mortal revelation
Her fortitude revealed
The truth will emerge with velocity
And she’s going to remember how you treated her
She will break the shell with velocity
By her claws we are rebuked
And by her stripes we are healed
She will wake from uneasy dreams transformed
Into more than just some giant insect
Her eyes will burn with terrible knowledge
Upon a better path
Ready to destroy that phase
Cocooned in such an ugly bastion
But now she’s queen of her own jungle
And no one may escape her wrath
When she wakes from her hibernation
She’s going to remember that she’s a tiger
By some mortal revelation
Her fortitude revealed
The truth will emerge with velocity
And she’s going to remember how you treated her
She will break the shell with velocity
By her claws we are rebuked
And by her stripes we are healed
They saw her stripes and saw a brittle butterfly
Because she kept her claws a secret
They only saw in her a withered wing
And said she could not fly
But with breaking dawn and crowing cock
Their mocking turns to consternation
It will be their turn to beg for mercy
And their turn to thrice deny
When she wakes from her hibernation
She’s going to remember that she’s a tiger
By some mortal revelation
Her fortitude revealed
The truth will emerge with velocity
And she’s going to remember how you treated her
She will break the shell with velocity
By her claws we are rebuked
And by her stripes we are healed
Holy babe, do you dream,
Sleeping in a humble cattle stall,
Of the same ancient world
Which all human babes recall?
In wooden trough, your destiny is cast,
The timber your support from first until the last.
Mary, who bears the Word,
Shepherd and magi before her bow;
Holds her son, as she will
One night thirty-three great years from now
In mother’s arms, the first and last to be
In such most sacred ring, transformed all are we.
Joseph, no seed of yours
Yields this tree of life by prophets told
This sapling’s wood you will
Build into a fortress for our souls
Flesh counterpart to Father above
For God to walk with men
You teach Him with love
So, let us then rejoice
Tiding of great joy to all who dwell
Kneel and sing now your praise
To our tree of life, Emmanuel
Planted that we may likewise life provide
And transformed that we may
In paradise abide
We sunlight and shadow
Magnetic wildness unsurpassed
I am powerless to the passion
That overtakes my senses
The brighter the light
The greater is the the shadow cast
My eye is open to the truth
My heart to consequences
In the hand that fate has dealt us
It’s the Two of Cups we hold
And though your hands are bound,
There is freedom in your eyes
And if I left the cup untasted
And you left the tale untold
Then we would never know
The love that law defies
We are one falling star
Brilliant, brief, and blazing hot
Locked in a lover’s leap
With every nerve aflame
If we cannot choose our fate
Our else ignore the caveat
We can still choose to rebel
Against the hierophant’s own game
In the hand that fate has dealt us
It’s the Two of Cups we hold
And though your hands are bound,
There is freedom in your eyes
And if I left the cup untasted
And you left the tale untold
Then we would never know
The love that law defies
Dance in the eyes of judgement
I sneer at the inevitable
Dangerous, sweet lesson
There is no knowledge without price
So we will drink of this cup
Which very well may be our downfall
Cast out of the garden
No enlightenment without sacrifice
In the hand that fate has dealt us
It’s the Two of Cups we hold
And though your hands are bound,
There is freedom in your eyes
And if I left the cup untasted
And you left the tale untold
Then we would never know
The l
ove that law defies
Symmetry and balance
Hold nature in their talons
They set a harsh criteria
Of the sacred and obscene
They say life will fulfill us
By the things that do not kill us
But I never knew the life
Of part man and part machine
Like Vulcan or Hephaestus
Your persona is asbestos
No flame will be permitted
Without your exclusive will
With a visage of Narcissus
And a mind that takes no prisoners
How cruel is our Creator
To leave His promise unfulfilled
Lonely spark of hope is sought
A miracle cannot be bought
My room upstairs a hermit’s lair
With just my sketchbook and my thoughts
I ask the gods of reason now
Some mercy could they please allow
Compassion’s crumbs on twiddled thumbs
I beg to have my turn somehow
The half moon shines a proud display
It cruelly mocks me while I pray
The mirth below an undertow
I only turn my face away
Frozen in my silent stare
While others take the lion’s share
No matter how I shatter now
Convince myself that I don’t care
The roads I’ve trod, the paths I’ve taken
Paradigms of progress shaken
I’d trade it all for a shred of stability
Having loved the seeds I’ve planted
Just this once may I be granted
A taste of what the real world seems to be
Refusing to give in to grief
And clinging to this mad belief
A heresy, insanity
I always thought would bring relief
My cold bed coaxes me at last
To rest my head from thoughts amassed
What can I lose, each day I choose
To hold out for the unsurpassed
Viceroy, pretty viceroy, what are we posing as?
Who is it we are pretending to be?
I promise I won’t speak my thoughts when I see you
As long as you swear not to tell yours to me
Boldly displaying my colors of brashness
The birds unaware that I’m quite good to eat
But all things delectable are still ephemeral
And in time the wine would no longer be sweet
Viceroy, pretty viceroy, what are we posing as?
Who is it we are pretending to be?
I promise I won’t speak my thoughts when I see you
As long as you swear not to tell yours to me
Glorious part of the splendor that moves me
To shed my disguise, the American dream
“Your buildings and your eyes,” but it’s back now to improvise
Finding my way again, swimming downstream
Viceroy, pretty viceroy, what are we posing as?
Who is it we are pretending to be?
I promise I won’t speak my thoughts when I see you
As long as you swear not to tell yours to me
Caught in the middle, a lunatic riddle
The bovine jumped high by the light of the moon
The laughing dog rises, illusion surprises
And now that we’ve finished this dish, shall we spoon?
Viceroy, pretty viceroy, what are we posing as?
Who is it we are pretending to be?
I promise I won’t speak my thoughts when I see you
As long as you swear not to tell yours to me
We strip the willow and suffer the heat
That threatens to render this show obsolete
The the breeze dances in through the grueling night
Like some laughing dark-eyed Creole delight
I wished for a rose by some other name
But found one sweeter still that was called by the same
Surprise secret wink from a keeper of lore
Is it any wonder that I dreamt of more?
Vin rouge et mousse espagnole
Je suis reveuse, mais j’ai bornée au sol
Je serai libre si tu lis mes paroles
Vin rouge et mousse espagnole
We are not kissing cousins, we ignore the hype
But who cares of the ignorant stereotype?
While the diatribe makes up appear asinine
I seek out the fruit of a different vine
Some things that possessions can never replace
A hot, humid night like a warm, wet embrace
Rasping cicadas, a dusky bayou
A chorus of frogs and the strangest juju
Vin rouge et mousse espagnole
Je suis reveuse, mais j’ai bornée au sol
Je serai libre si tu lis mes paroles
Vin rouge et mousse espagnole
Welcome, stranger
I seem to have lost my way
Nights keep me pondering, aimless and wandering
While I must appear strong by day
Welcome, stranger
Can you help me release this fear
All I recall is the sound of my fall
With no one around to hear
But I feel no pain, no bite of sorrow
No regrets, no jealousy
Just a weary resignation
Of a hardened mentality
Welcome, stranger
You seem to be lost as well
They say to me, ‘Misery loves company,’
Only time and distance will tell
Welcome, stranger
Please now, don’t get me wrong
We may drink of some wine to help pass the time
But I know that I’ll never belong
But I feel no pain, no bite of sorrow
No regrets, no jealousy
Just a weary resignation
Of a hardened mentality
When I am old, I will swear like a sailor
Well-meaning neighbors will deem me as strange
I’ll dance on the roof, and I’ll be living proof
That some things with age never change
Things with age never change
I’ll reek of perfume and wear unseemly shoes
My jewelry offensive, my hair will be blue
I’ll wear too much makeup and cheap vintage clothing
Much as I looked at age twenty two
I looked at age twenty two
I will gather my skirts and sit by the hearth
And all the young people will come visit me
I’ll serve them all whiskey and tell dirty jokes
As true to my youth as can possibly be
I’ll offer them archaic words of wisdom
Tales of when chivalry was alive
Though I hardly bore much witness myself
Last seen at age twenty five
As sane as a loon and as sharp as a sausage
I’ll raucously cackle at each Halloween
I’ll take frequent naps and be cranky as hell
Just like the person I always have been
The person I always have been
I’ll chase meddling kids from my porch with a stick
Smoke from a pipe and wear a black shawl
As you can see from my grand fantasy
I don’t intend to change much at all
Intend to change much at all
But I hope to gain wisdom to tell of it
And be foolish eno
ugh for the hell of it!
This strange celebration would eat you alive
Only for its indifference did I survive
I’m lost in a world where glory is not what it seems
Two souls vying whether to fight or to pray
On wings of thin paper glide swiftly away
Once you saw visions and now I’ll make you dream dreams
And I’ll carry this torch to some other place
To keep this destruction at bay
Dark wings beat wildly inside my ribcage
Til it opens...and they all fly away
I have tasted the sweetest of things
Against my lips, the fluttering wings