I've Always Been a Poet, 'Though I Didn't Always Know It Read online

  Don’t tread on me, I bleed for real, no dishonor

  Step to the test, forsake the rest, kill and conquer

  Burn your books, don’t look, just hide, and let God find ya

  Support a war we can’t afford and borrow blindly

  Atomic arms, alarms, anthrax, and air raid sirens

  Metal vest to chest, opposing all you tyrants

  Amputees believe, the draft’s prophetic cycles

  Serene regime, suburban combat, ghastly trials

  Revolution, up-roar, discord, the world’s at war now

  Bury your heads and say your prayers

  Be forewarned, now

  Struttin’ with my battle axe, I’m gonna find ya

  Concede to defeat

  Obey

  Destroy

  Defying

  March to the cursed beat

  Adorn

  Conform?

  Not likely

  Regicide on the tides

  Mystique

  Secret

  Beguiling

  Shadow games all the same

  Discreet

  Oblique

  Disquieting

  Fight for rights

  We strike

  With picket signs we denigrate

  Socialized healthcare

  Unions and PTAs

  Collective bargaining

  Logic for dollar bills

  Backed by terrorists

  EPA and oil spills

  To the bombs

  To the balls

  ‘Till they slay us all

  To the left

  To the right

  ‘Till we can’t stand right

  To the stars and the stripes

  To the black and blue

  To the cat and the mouse

  And Yahweh too

  We’re all serving, striving, scraping, crying

  Bullets, bayonets, and circumcising

  Ain’t dizzy yet?

  Well, keep on trying

  We got AIDS, grenades, badays, displays, melees

  Façades, no jobs, twelve dollars for a gallon, and shopping carts

  We turn inward, bitter embers, feasting on our own rotting innards

  We give all still you want more

  This decree we all abhor

  Taxation hikes, misdirection, live-feed streams, immunizations

  Suicide’s illegalized

  So you can’t let go

  ‘Till you pay off the debt

  That you’re born to owe

  Trickle-down theory

  Subsidized living

  Constitutional amendments

  Egregious spending

  Severed ties and conflict scars

  Purple hearts and camel straws

  Conservative monsters

  And canker sores

  It all piles up, can’t take no more

  Grrrrr…such is the way of war!

  RELEASE-PAPER BLUES

  You heard?

  I’m going home

  Got my papers just today

  You heard?

  I’m getting out

  Got my papers just today

  Gonna pack my bags

  And go home

  Got my papers just today

  I done served my time

  And then some

  I can’t wait to see my kin

  I done served my time

  And then some

  I can’t wait to see my friends

  It’s been all this time

  And then some

  And I can’t wait to see my…woman

  Goin’ home to see my woman

  I’ve been gone for oh so, long

  Goin’ home to see my woman

  I’ve been gone for way too long

  Goin’ home to see my woman

  Kept her picture on a shelf

  Goin home to see my woman

  If my soul I have to sell

  See, my woman

  She’s a wild one

  She don’t like it when I’m gone

  See, my woman

  She’s a wild

  And I’ve been gone for oh so, long

  Man, you know I didn’t want to

  But I had to do my time

  And that woman, she’s a wild one

  Steppin’ out on me all of the time

  Goin’ home to see my woman

  Gonna see if she’s been true

  Goin home to see my woman

  Hope what they say just ain’t true

  And if I find she’s still all mine

  Gonna lay her on down by the fire

  If I find she’s all mine

  I’m-a treat her good all night

  Goin’ home to see my woman

  Gonna see if she’s been true

  Goin home to see my woman

  Hope what they say just ain’t true

  But if I find her with another

  I will lose my mind

  If I catch her with another...

  I’ll kill him, too

  You hear?

  I’m getting out

  Got my papers just today

  You hear?

  I’m going home

  Got my papers just today

  Goin’ home to see my woman

  Got my papers just today

  ACOLYTE

  Our temples burn in fire

  Bodies littered deep in mud

  So come now all ye faithful

  And witness the un-done

  You can still serve a purpose

  You can still join a corps

  Come forth all ye chosen

  And heed to the new word

  Oh, how we all have fallen

  Oh, how we all shall burn

  Oh, how we all shall perish

  Unto ashes we return

  Now arise -- Acolyte!

  Don’t rally ‘round your family

  Don’t waste your prayers on breath

  Our society is a poison

  Sloth, gluttons, thieves at best

  The turning tides are boiling points toward cataclysmic woe

  And if and when it ever ends, it shall lead to the unknown

  Our cities fall to embers from the burning winter’s storm

  Come ‘round the new world order on the sallow wings of -- death!

  On the sallow wings of death!

  I am the Lamb of God

  I have become more than I am

  I’ve laid waste to pawns, slain all my foes

  And died for my own sins

  I assist the savior toward the sweet embrace of our demise

  And I can taste the salted Earth that long ago gave -- us life!

  Oh, how we all have fallen!

  Oh, how we all have fallen!

  The prophet has risen

  To crush and deceive

  Stand and deliver

  Then you shall believe

  The future is hopeless

  This festering sore

  People are cancer

  And there is no cure

  Tremors and monsoons and plagues of vast darkness are ravaging mankind like never before

  Stand up for something or perish or else what in the hell are you living for?

  Pope-ish idolatry, heresy, blasphemy, misery

  Hopeless enough to topple the skies

  Tyranny, anarchy, chaos, and murder

  Our sickness is spreading and that’s how we’ll die

  Now arise -- Acolyte!

  IV

  THE SEPULCHERIST

  INTRO STATUS MAYDAY

  Um, ground control this is INQUISITOR, do you copy?

  Over.

  INQUISITOR this is ground control, we read you loud and clear. Go ahead with transmission.

  Over.

  Uh, yeah, are you guys reading this?

  Over.

  Reading what?

  Over.

  Well, Houston, we’re seeing a lot of bright lights up here. A lot of distortion messing wit
h our instruments. Some sort of back-ground-humming noise.

  Over.

  INQUISITOR, we’re running diagnostics. Sit tight.

  Over.

  This is ground control hailing INQUISITOR. Do you copy?

  INQUISITOR here. Mission status?

  Over.

  Uh, yeah, INQUISITOR we’re picking nothing up on our screens. You’re flying solo, and clear for mission.

  Over.

  Ground control, this is INQUISITOR. I don’t know if your gear’s jammed-up, but there is definitely something up here with us. So, I suggest you check your specs again.

  Over.

  Copy that INQUISITOR. Awaiting verification.

  Over.

  FWSHWOOM

  What is that? Oh, my God, what is that?

  I don’t know! It’s so bright!

  INQUISITOR, this is ground control. Do you copy? What’s happening up there?

  Over.

  Oh, my God!

  Oh, my God!

  I can’t see!

  Oh, my God!

  INQUISITOR, what’s happening up there?

  Oh, my God!

  We’re losing control!

  May-day! May-day!

  INQUISITOR, we’re losing you. What’s happening?

  Oh, my God!

  Ah! My eyes are burning!

  May-day! May-day!

  Ground control, do you copy?

  INQUISITOR, this is ground control, do you copy?

  Do you copy?

  Ah!

  Oh, my God!

  I don’t know if anyone down there can hear this

  But Run!

  Oh, my God!

  Run!

  It’s coming!

  It’s coming!

  Oh, my God!

  THE DAWN OF EXTINCTION

  Run!

  For your lives the Pale Rider’s finally come

  Hide!

  All you want, won’t save you when the stars erupt

  Flowing!

  Lava spews forth from every crevice of the earth

  Earthquakes!

  Shake and break apart all we’ve built and all we’ve done

  We all knew the end would come

  What was once is now undone

  But, it’s almost over

  That much is clear

  But, don’t you worry

  When you’re dead there is no fear

  Erupt!

  The sun explodes in waves of radiation, cosmic dust

  Cry!

  Up to the sky as it descends on us

  Die!

  Suicide’s the only salvation for the meek

  In time!

  We’ll be erased, no trace that we existed once

  We all knew the end would come

  What was once is now undone

  This is the fall of was

  And what shall be soon called once

  The stars erupt

  And reign down rust

  So, cover up and pray for us

  History re-writes itself

  Just because!

  No one remembers or recalls

  The fossils that once ruled

  This is the dawn of extinction

  Fossil, mule, mollusk, moth

  Which hides the key from Astaroth?

  Bow down!

  On your knees and beg, “please”

  For God to spare this disease

  No more rapture, no more future

  Die out!

  Species going extinct

  Much more bleak than we think

  Survival’s no solution

  Now, line up for execution!

  Run!

  The seas bubble over and boil all of us

  Cry!

  The skies ignite our atmosphere to ash and dust

  Hide!

  Comets collide and hail over the world

  Just die!

  The end of times is nigh, so prepare for the worst

  We all knew the end would come

  What was once is now undone

  This is the fall of was

  And what shall be soon called once

  The stars erupt

  And reign down rust

  So, cover up and pray for us

  History re-writes itself

  Just because!

  No one remembers or recalls

  The fossils that once ruled

  This is the dawn of extinction

  FINGER TIPPING (Pt. 1)

  Hey man, have you seen my fingertips around?

  Leaving fingerprint imprints like eyes

  Eyes for to watch

  Eyes for to see

  See them tip the surface

  Purling across the sky

  Hey man, my fingertips, I think they’ve got a crush on you

  Touching, feeling space

  I think they’re looking for you

  They illuminate, they guide

  Follow the fingertip road

  Hey man, have you seen my fingertips today?

  Tipping the edge of sanity

  Do you hear the fingertip call?

  See them point at you

  For you are the master-tater

  And I am the eggplant

  Little chicken, I think the sky is falling

  Better take heed

  Glassy shards fall down like rain

  Falling down around you, little chicken

  As glassy shards of sky remain

  Hey man, I’ve got a tip for you

  A fingertip (Ha-ha-ha!)

  What? Uh…

  I forgot what I was saying

  Forget

  Forget the egg, forget the shell

  Forget the dream (sigh), it’s over anyway

  Little chicken, the sky is falling so be afraid

  The stars collapse but the moon doth stay

  Little chicken run away

  Come back again when glassy shards no longer reign

  Hey man, have you found my fingertips yet?

  I lost ‘em and I can’t seem to find ‘em

  I think they fell on the floor

  Rolled under the couch…maybe

  Oh, wait! There they are, beneath the door

  (I am a door)

  There is a door

  (I am an exist)

  This is a door

  (I am an exist)

  I am a door

  FINGER TIPPING (Pt. 2)

  Fingertips tapping let the games begin

  See the fingertips point out your lives of sin

  Acrimonious sounds of the judgment-go-round

  A fingertip trip where the fun never ends

  Little chicken, don’t you worry

  Time unveils a cosmic furry

  Repent your prayers, dessert your cries

  No God above will fix the skies

  Finger slack slipping, everybody jump in

  There’s no need to fear Hell when you’re already there

  And the pestilent masks of oblivious trash say they hate to get dirty

  Yet, they wear it so well

  Little chicken, why so forlorn?

  Have you realized that all is gone?

  Found your feet but still can’t run

  No God above will heal the sun

  Finger licks tip take-out ‘though I’d rather dine in

  Regicide marks man-hood but nobody gives in

  And those endeavorous strides that make life oh so, worth while

  Thin out to nothing and then thicken again

  Little chicken, the sky is broken

  Shards of glass that glimpse unspoken realms divided by a notion

  Drift upon the cosmic ocean

  Darkness rises

  Damn it back

  Don’t let the eggplant ride again

  Little chick, the sky’s all brokey

  Beams collapse ‘cause Gods revolting against the world, against the seed

  Against all of you and me

  Enter the worm, your crimson
dawn

  Embrace the hate that you have spawned

  This is the end, the fall of Ra

  No God above will fix the sun

  APOCALYPTICIST

  Divination

  Prestidigitation

  A magic act on the whole united nations

  My God is the one who made yours

  Yet, my voice is the first to be ignored

  Isn’t that so sad?

  But, a matter of fact

  Exsanguination

  Devastation

  The modern faith of the daily true-believers

  In times of war

  If you want peace

  Ya gotta take it by force

  My God is the one who made yours

  And I can’t wait ‘til he breaks all seven doors

  Only then can the truth be revealed

  This idle life is not ours

  I believe that the end of times is nigh

  And I can’t wait to see the light

  Raised up from mountain high

  While all you swine are left behind

  To root through all the filth you’ve reaped

  So keep your Savior in arm’s-reach

  Chose a path less often strayed

  I alone and others saved

  Not Jehovah’s Witness, Hebrew, Muslim, Mormon, Pagan, or a Catholic

  I’m…Apocalypticist!

  Masochistic

  Chauvinistic

  The lip-service of the rabid nihilistic

  It doesn’t matter which faith you implore

  My God, still created yours

  Isn’t that so sad?

  But, a fun fact

  Instigations

  Insinuations

  Bringing down the house with our own conflagrations

  They say the meek shall inherit the Earth

  In the meantime, y’all get behind the hearse

  Isn’t that a bit esoteric?

  A little sadistic

  Invocation

  Moderation

  What the fuck happened to self-remuneration?

  When did we really stop seeing ourselves?

  Oh, my God, we just created Hell!

  My God is the one who made yours

  And I can’t wait ‘til he breaks all seven doors

  Only then can the truth be revealed

  This idle life is not ours

  I believe that the end of times is nigh

  And I can’t wait to see the light

  Raised up from mountain high

  While all you swine are left behind