man I can’t sing
happy to throw some words
right into the mix
have some ideas of direction
& I can’t play more than a couple of licks
oh no that’s not what we had in mind
we like your attitude
want some of what you got
don’t want no words
no riffs just you
standing up straight
doing what you do
talk if you like
we’ll fill in the sound
& I tried to tell ‘em
when you got this kind of stain
it won’t rub off
no matter how hard you try
she was a great girl beautiful in her dark way
came ragged to me nowhere to go
her ex had pimped her out some & that she didn’t want no more
she was younger than me though that didn’t seem a thing
first we cleaned up the clap
then we settled in together
she got new shoes & clothes I got me a sweeter room
I tried to write & she hung around doing what she called thinkin’
couldn’t get the girl to paint without tears & screams
so I learned to leave that alone
but the one thing she wanted without any need want to work
was the money folding & green & I was always a poor boy at that
never much left after the eatin’ & drinkin’
of course she left one day for a richer man
& I guess that’s how she came to me
if all I can do with love is rent for a short while
at least I get a new model every few years
how it all starts is how it all ends
it seems
there are no answers
waking at three is no good anymore
it has been a while since I was crawling through the door
at this kind of time
& instead the dark closes in my mind
thinking how of other changes in my life
when did I begin to care about the nothings of time?
I had my understanding nobody cares about anything
unless they are lovers or kith & kine
& even they have learnt to look the other way
when you come looking for answers
a kinder way to make it through
your bowl open & empty is all they see
& rather than tell you they too are empty
they will tell you to go look in another direction
there you might seek answers to find
leaving you to understand you are wrong again
these loves you look upon are only but chains
care for what you want to care
ignore what doesn’t kill you
& the mountains will remain the same
suicide was an option I wanted for me
something I could think of in dead days
hold on to believe
& he took all of that away
seeing the friends come to see him go
if only he’d called they all said
we would’ve tried to pull him through
& all the tears sadness if only we knews
none of this can reset the clock start over
the girl who loved him who let him go
years on feels the tears of betrayal
will the next one I love do this too?
& I could not do this to them
to those that I have said I love you
he took all of that away
but I guess these things
were for him not true
any street any town anywhere
that man there cleaning shop windows
wondering just how he’s going to cope
with two kids now she has run away
with the guy he used to call friend
& those two kids hand in hand at the bus stop
in long socks to hide the bruises momma gave
she can’t cope anymore her man don’t understand
& the guy there with the white face pained
by his ‘rhoids ache there in his ass
while the woman limps by her arthritis hot
past the one with MS disability nobody sees
that one got depression only lithium can ease
him there her there going about their long day
two jobs still not able to pay the back rent
we see the stoners giggling tryin’ to get high
not getting they be self-medicating to get by
the hiv+ person not wanting to tell us why
& all there every day any street anywhere
while all we see is other people we don’t care
don’t wanna understand nobody gets our pain
Este lo que hacer
recoger las semillas
de canales de polvo
en España, Francia, Italia
algunos extraños emulación
de una edad victoriana o regencia
Caballero en su gran tour
alimentar en las plantas
árboles
dar vida a
¿como qué?
rechazar muerte
¿crear hechizos de la longevidad?
hay una metáfora en juego
aquí
pero yo estoy maldecido si sé
lo que es
I can lie
tell you stories late into the night
entertain for the fun of it
but don’t ask me to paint it purty
when you ask about your life
your loves
the shit we all do
what brought you to me
was my lust for living
telling it true
you knew
you could ask me straight
get that back the same way
so don’t ask me to lie
paint it purty
make me
think less of you
drop the hammer down
