With more skat
than a stray cat
can poke his eyeballs at
the punk
in the Midnight Choir
starts to twist and shout
Yet …
the All in All
all too beautiful
for even a bird on a wire
to sing about
Like that
concert hall in Vienna
where your lips
were so warm and wet
Getting a feel
of the real deal
… that love thing
Upon a mission
a royal commission
seeking foremost
the rock solid Kingdom
It all starts from within
Seizing the living moment
Best be in it
to win
And Leonard Cohen
he’s moved on
to the Tower of Song
To find truth
without love
or at least a trace
of faith and hope
like trying to climb
the highest peak
of Mount Everest
naked
without oxygen
or even a rope
Not saying it can’t be done
but man …
sounding much like
a clanging gong
in the Temple
of a world gone wrong
Or have I found
that love thing?
From the mire
of the dire basement
that we’re standing in
try as you might
to sight the heavens
across the endless skies
Far better
in the light
seeing the world
through heaven’s eyes
Heart and Soulful
Holy Mindfulness
is the rightful place
where we all belong
And Leonard Cohen
he’s moved on
to the Tower of Song
I too
have tried
in my way
to be free
If it be your will
then let it be
Yet
here on earth
they sentenced me
to forty years of mayhem
for spying
the celebrants
of sin
Tell me
where does
this world end
and the next begin?
Because
I don’t like your
toxic culture mister
And I don’t like
the choir
you’re singing in
I don’t like Big Brother’s
twisted little sister
The King
of everything
He’s coming back
He’s coming to reward them
The King of hearts
and minds
the Prince of Peace
returning
But first
we seek the Kingdom
Then let freedom ring
And Leonard Cohen
he’s moved on
to the Tower of Song
I’ve been buried
and I’ve been dug up
I call it grace amazing
You called it dumb luck
And thank you
for those items
that you sent me
The stone monkey
and the ink
under my skin
I’ve tunnelled
towards the light
and now I’m ready
First
we occupy the Kingdom
then
let the revolution begin
Yes … Jesus was a sailor
when he walked upon the water
Seeking the lost at sea
and the drowning
The stranger
the gambler
and me
And Leonard Cohen
he’s sailing on
to the Tower of Song
Through all
the rise and fall
the pulp fiction
from hell’s kitchen
I really like
to walk
that tightrope, baby
I really like
to hear
those Sirens sing
But to see that nightmare
of deception
prowling through creation
Jesus told us
yes he told us
Kingdom starts with
Remember me?
I use to to live
without rhyme or reason
Remember me?
I plugged your Hi-Fi in
You loved me as a loser
You’d hate
to ever see me win
With Christ Jesus
my ship has finally
come in
No longer tied
to a kitchen chair
With a Glory
and a broken Hallelujah!
But first
we take the Kingdom
Losing it all to win
And Leonard Cohen
he’s moved on
to the Tower of Song
I’m counselled
by a whisper
from the heavens
Once I was blinded
by visions in a spin
Now it’s …
So long Chicken Maryland
That frozen turkey
who nearly did me in
For now I’m guided
by the beauty of creation
and a thirst
for the Kingdom
where I first heard
those angels sing
Jesus told us
yes he told us
Kingdom begins within
And Leonard Cohen
he’s singing along
from the Tower of Song
~ by David B. Redpath © 2017-20
Artwork;
‘La Musica Sacra’
~ by Luigi Mussini
Photography:
David B. Redpath © 2017-20
David Redpath 
the Boss Man went out with a whoosh
his death altered my focus
his death took me far
from my station
Michael of Michaels
spacious and anonymous
addicted to dilemmas of the flesh
(+) normalcy in $700 space grown cotton socks
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pOETRY wORKSHOP:
SUGGESTIONS TO LOOK BENEATH
suggestions to look beneath the surface of our lives
confront some of the darker moments
—a location where parents unload their child
toss their baby out the window of a speeding car
late at night, the shit bag goes missing in the dark
LikeLike
keep in mind
Admission to Hell
is not a video game
America with its psychological plague
common people living an enormous joke
———^^^———
laughter inevitably perished
Straw Boy Dylan singing to himself
LikeLike
going to St. Louis
late at night the shit bag crying
she rolled the window down and tossed it
so much for romantic crap, it was a solution
LikeLike
Elon Musk has a bad feeling
Is it just that tropical storm Alex
blowing through a hole
in Elon’s space explorer pants?
That place where
Amber the Huntress
sold her soul for a magnetic flux
in the back seat of a Model X Tesla
Pas de Regrets
when you’re the Axe of the Harvest
LikeLike
she had no brethren
free of any number
or address
under education
“never attained”
lips quivering
exuberant sex
all options open
LikeLike
Axe of the Harvest
two-handed tool at the Honeymoon Hotel
(truck stop slang: penis over 7 inches in length)
(Satan plants human seed to rob their life force)
warmly welcomed into a human reality
where Satan monitors your signal
your personal reality
constantly reconstructed
everything you sign is a disclaimer
(ABC:1234)
potty training
re-creating dialogue
childhood creative license
puberty soaked in patchouli
(later)
motionless
on the ground floor
(+) an interior prisoner
LikeLike
memories in bed
your lover
his best friend
her best friend
half a dozen from yesterday
half a dozen from tomorrow
ghosts chatting about vagina drool
infatuation with manly snouts
LikeLike
every morning at breakfast
the wife starts talking
“if only I could erase the memories
of you touching me
squirting your pimento cheese
inside me”
sometimes she complains
about coughing up
droplets of semen
lingering on
the taste
LikeLike
A solution to stop the complaining;
Load up ones pre-ejaculate with a
generous dose of crack cocaine
and then spike your come with a
hot shot of heroin injected straight
into the scrotum. It works every
time.
Warning: The recipients may become
rather demanding.
LikeLike
agents monitor
the worm medicine
that I give to the horses
the wife is a modern Quaker
she is immune to dangerous drugs
I’ve grown to bask in her constant chat
sometimes she mentions things dear to my heart
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LITERATURE
details
observations
Twinkle, Twinkle
tinkle, tinkle
standard-size
the wife standing
at the urinal, 100% English
a dangerous tomboy, my tomboy
LikeLike
under great pressure
I was to answer some questions
I wrote, “I find that reality is just a sum
of circumstances surrounding an object”
my hand—–your hand
the agent blushed
he was a pushover
(+) inner monologue sodomy
LikeLike
just think
parents who have lived entire lives/other lives
countless days of love/hate, harsh whispers
replacing sex with prescription bottles
no more swim suits
(+) Ahab fails the whale
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in the middle of the night
terrible sounds
a pig was being strangled
as attention-grabbing as it was
not one family member exited bed
(+) words that bounce as they walk through your mind—–no waddle
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Abstracts that multiply
Abstracts that subtract
Furtive acts that distract
and turn true facts to a lie
Alternative facts to learn
Fugitive thoughts to attract
digestive tracts
that squirm like a worm
in synthetic puffer jackets
from the day they’re born
till the day that they die
Excuse me Jimi Hendrix
my experimental existence
whilst I kiss a torn sky
LikeLike
the B&B in Maine:
a vacation with a buildup of omens
apprehension at entering the B&B
children in thrift store evening ware
proud of Fairground award ribbons
children: fiction and nonfiction
100% legal Fahrenheit TV
no mention of suck marks
on the neck of likable teen
LikeLike
the B&B in Maine:
we had an entire floor to ourselves
told not to open the windows
we did so immediately
wind from the coast
was fierce
the curtains were aggressively assaulted
I was filled with countless ghosts
happy to be stuffed in skin
safe from the memories
of lasting hurt
LikeLike
fertile females squirming
puffer jacket vulvas
disgorging
hints of
sexual snot
pork chop snot
Daddy rubbing
his fingers together
(+) monitoring the size of Daddy’s nostrils
LikeLike
no mention of suck marks
on the neck of likable teen
————-
————-
she was a long term parking spot
a colorful relationship
froth on her bush
most nights
————-
————-
she couldn’t write 5 paragraphs about Lover Boy
he showed her his penis on the first date
it hurt like hell
the first time they did it Australian style
things unteachable, he taught
LikeLike
the B&B in Maine:
no amphetamines for breakfast
Mother cooked up some pancakes
with blueberries from the backyard
we talked and laughed and devoured
pancakes with real Maine blueberries
a calendar of nude firemen on the wall
at best
we were purposeful
slowdowns to their day
LikeLike
Whenever I find myself
roaming about the wilderness
from Saudi Arabia to Qatar
where the girls belly dance
where the men jihad
and the camels are nervous
I always stay at a friendly
Bedouin & Breakfast
From Riyadh to Doha
they serve only the very best
who pray towards Mecca
and believe in Genie magic
as their falafel and hummus
is a tasty mouthful of the desert
flying face down on a carpet
LikeLike
growing up in a clan
where people actively
measured the nostril size
of Daddy
LIFE: learning to listen to what words mean
most days are monotone without expression
with no one around
stealing words from the throwaway pile
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rows of seats on the school bus
children more or less caricature
the constant buzz, tight, loose, nonstop
transient dialogue differentiated from adults
————those with no cure
become organ donors
although tethered
some escape
the school bus of literature
Freud behind the wheel
unapologetic circles
around the rim
of the bum
LikeLike
a quiet child who grew up to be
an agent of Homeland Insecurity
a smart kid who grew up to be
an agent of the disruption industry
a wild child who grew up to be
an agent provocateur of conformity
another wild child who died
in the gutter of chaos and anarchy
LikeLike
ROWS OF SEATS
became rows of teeth
coated with chocolate cake
condom wrappers for toothpicks
blind people at the party were fondling
others were concerned with broken glass
alcoholism, drug abuse, Robert Frost
a rough patch down the road
the metastasis of a tumor
odd tasting semen
LikeLike
although tethered
some escape
accusations pile up at the front door
agents push them to the side before knocking
a knock with the certainty of its own rightness
LikeLike
as a mild child
I was cut loose and released
to the vagaries of a centrifugal force
purely for experimental purposes
the results of which
unverifiable and considered
highly dubious
by the Guardians of Existence
are yet to be published
LikeLike
a mild child tethered
no suggestions about tossing you
out of a speeding car at night
taught at an early age to decode
a self-contained hike
a clear path
(+) the fantasy of real legs, real feet
12 years of schooling (false consciousness)
keeping one from seeing reality
mindless chatter
inequalities
8 years of college
you close your eyes
fate picks a horse
you ride off into romance
and reproduction
some fast, some slow
some dead on arrival
LikeLike
SHE WANTED A REWARD
for tossing the shit bag
out the window
I was surprised
she liked it
her pet
her
Petty
thank God
no photographs
LikeLike
a wrecked automobile
a pile of grammar rules
agents knocking on the door
animal in body, human in mind
signifier and the signified
dope stronger than drugs
real dope like before
LikeLike
reeking of automo bile
an unlicensed human
with an automatic rifle
high on pseudo significance
behind the driver’s wheel
mistaking the road not taken
for a bourgeois elitist detour
with a backwards glance
through a broken
smoking rear view mirror
never asking what is the deal
in the bad lands of oppression
where good grammar is forsaken
LikeLike
pOETRY wORKSHOP:
in a steam room with Rocky the Flying Squirrel
and Bullwinkle the Moose, both nude
genitals in emulsifier colors
one area within the whole
in proportion
to the tasks
at hand
(+) trial and error
LikeLike
the animalism and pettiness of man
tried to escape its shadow
in a life going 100mph
never came close
day in, day out
till death
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the truck stop showers
where apes dissolve
virtues into vices
grown men wear
shower caps
underwear
no dong
in sight
LikeLike
signs on the wall
warning of possible blasphemy
Jesus trying to mop up corruption
many a great disorder not easily rectified
so very much the Testaments take no notice of
LikeLike
having ridden the beast
adult affection
from a boy’s hand
the mirror lies
no longer a child
SATAN: victorious over imagination
the golden streets of Heaven
fake
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I allowed the indigenous inhabitants
to keep their idols
and refrained from burning down
their spirit houses
every pagan needs somewhere to party
I knew that given enough time
I could win them over
with beads and poetry
even that nefarious witchdoctor
who would chant vile curses
exhorting my immediate murder
whenever I ventured
into Placebo Town
he’s now the choir leader
and a spirited lay preacher
who ever said that crime
and the sublime doesn’t pay?
LikeLike
grownups under the Holiday tree
rehearsing to one another
trying to put it
where it belonged not
the lights dim
to help conceal
the scaffolding
LikeLike
Johnny Depp made me
an offer I couldn’t refuse
his scrotum in return
for the bottle of tequila
he allegedly used
on Amber Heard’s virgina
I told him not to be absurd
as I’d heard that story
and I didn’t believe a word
despite Johnny showing me an
obviously photoshopped picture
you see . . . I know Amber
she would’ve insisted on
the Eye of the Dragon vodka
… but out of pity
I gave Johnny back
his ballsac anyway
as I greatly enjoyed the story
LikeLike
his physical body dead on the lawn
he had no name and went through life nameless
some say he walked, some say he floated
he had a good wife with an athletic grin
she could entice him to make baby sounds
outside
outside for twenty miles
outside, all the way to China
neighbors could see his body
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it was possible
that he had never read
original similes and metaphors
————riding a bicycle as an adult (clue)
truck stop
erections
popping up
jack-in-the-box style
the suddenness of orgasms
LikeLike
Jesus with his pink-skinned beauties
barely concealed sexuality
simple, wholesome innocence
meanwhile
someone, somewhere
was mailing out advertisements
huge girth and length
squirts that reach the ceiling
female body parts rarely seen
weed wacked and moistened
were open to explore
——————
——————
cowboys disappointed
with womenfolk available
sailors disappointed
with womenfolk available
lesbians disappointed
with womenfolk available
——————
——————
the streets littered with babies
Jackie Kennedy giving birth
on the evening news
Jackie in agony
smiles at the camera
“obey your Lord”
LikeLike
Not a molecule of a crumb
goes unnoticed, from
the impotent minuscule
to the nuclear muscle
of a geriatric POTUS,
by the One who came
all prophetically biblical
to set us free . . .
the Lion of the tribe of Judah
(how’s that for a sublime simile?)
LikeLike
large “HELP WANTED” sign
on the entrance to Heaven
busy work
counting hairs
updating information
everyone and everything monitored
————
————
lucky people drain themselves
and wallow in it
LikeLike
Bond servants and slaves
fearing the endless grave
Tradition and superstition
their only defence against
the darkness of oblivion
“This is the message we have
heard from Him and announce
to you, that God is Light, and in
Him there is no darkness at all.”
“Every good and perfect gift is from
above, coming down from the Father
of the heavenly lights, who does not
change like shifting shadows.”
~ The Book
LikeLike
He who fished your sperm out of the millions
and planted it in the correct egg
He who picked you up each day
and helped you puppet
through life
(+) constant gifting of imagery, voice
this is His world/shifting shadows
LikeLike
If you go to a garden party
with Kevin Spacey
I wish you a lotta luck
Hanging out
on a burning cross
at a bonfire of the vanities
well … I’d rather drive a truck
But it’s all right now
I learned my lesson well
since Yellowstone Park
began to melt
and Mobile Alabama
is now hotter than hell
like a shot of snow
up Amber’s nubile nostril
LikeLike
talk of the mountain top
and the mountain top folk
recurrent memories
from your life
those
passed on
wearing wings
praising the Lord
words with layered meaning
caution, Brother—deal not done
(+) ticking questions from strangers
LikeLike
I was just minding my own business
admiring Amber Heard’s third nostril
(known locally as the Blow Hole)
and purchasing luxury car parts
from a friendly Hell’s Angel
when down came the word …
“Don’t go confusing the creator
with the creation!
Take the Mighty Minotaur,
Pablo Picasso, for example.
He ain’t no oil painting
of a crying woman.
Try as you might, you won’t see
an Italian car designer in the
headlights of a stolen Maserati.
Not unless . . .
you’re about to run one over.”
LikeLike
in Heaven
men with their male counterparts
exhibit extraordinary courage
declining roles as day laborer
the “very hot” place
screams welcome
“come on down
we have an itch
just for you”
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ARE GENDER CODES JUST ZOMBIES ?
at odds with gender codes
outer physical identity
Robert Frost: cut and dry, no measure necessary
litter being thrown out the windows of surgical alteration
LikeLike
(homosexuals afraid to check out “Moby Dick” at the library)
homosexuals pulled over by the police
46 copies of “Moby Dick”
in their trunk
neurotically
parsimonious
bedroom action
Queequeg sodomy
LikeLike
Somewhere
in the Caribbean
Johnny Depp’s great white whale,
better known in the Viper Room
as Moby Dick, rides again
since I restored to him
his pillaged scrotum
along with a bottle
of the Eye of the Dragon vodka
He was last seen
on the hunt for Amber
in order to harpoon her
right in that mystical third nostril
the main inspiration
for much classic literature
(except perhaps those novels about
seafaring buccaneers & whalers?)
LikeLike
sexual exploitation by guillotine
males start censoring their softer sides
thank God for the private mirror
conventional life plots
before the Saturday morning cartoons
Freud and Jung talking behind your back
portraits of your lovers in their wallets
voices in the dark, “just do it”
LikeLike
my softer side
went missing in action
during a Russian invasion
of a Tiananmen Square massacre
after an Agent Orange drenching
Jung had no answer
to my long range annihilation
as Freud kept on laughing
I discovered
in an Auschwitz gas chamber
those Germans sure do have
a strange sense of humour
with their lieberhausen
and schuhplattler slap dancing
LikeLike
AS A YOUNG MAN YOU WERE SNIFFING NEIGHBORING DAUGHTERS
as a young man you were sniffing neighboring daughters
living in your parent’s penal settlement
making battle/making love
the Home Rule:
no deposit
puncture
and run
LikeLike
AS AN OLD MAN ….
as an old man
the more things change
the more they stay the same
according to Melania Trump
and my eternal flame
. . . Sophia Loren
LikeLike
step inside my private mirror
and one enters a large empty church
taught fear your life now fear after death
you walk in with a crowd but find yourself alone
you were happy with your features but now they’re gone
(+) a creative artist not a mirror of history
LikeLike
the future
is now over and done with
existence just a retrospective
in a hall of mirrors
for all those
condemned to the past
all that is left
for the living remnants
in the fullness of crime
seeking teflon forgiveness
is to witness the outworking
of what has already been written
or to play a hand in the dealing
till the very end of time
LikeLike
Teflon forgiveness:
rub it on your butt cheeks
your thighs and elsewhere
the motorcycle to Key West
a severe physical ordeal, masochistic
nut sac confinement, badgered sperms
LikeLike
the village people with their torches
and pitchforks
in the movies they say “Frankenstein”
in the real world they’re saying “Michael Plus”
the monster, Plural Michael
(+) “Plural Michael, Plural Michael, come out and play”
and there I was, MultipleMichael
(how many times again ?)
LikeLike
In Placebo Town
they have many medications
that marinate the brain
to lock down
Michael’s multiple manifestations
I’ve seen the village folk
boasting of miraculous results
and partaking in wild celebrations
declaring it is now safe
to walk the streets at night
… but then again …
LikeLike
people ask me what it was like to be a witch
………………………………………………………………………
one is much more aware of their limitations
“Thou shall not”
the size of the walls
that imprisoned King Kong
emotional balance
to weave mature bonds
to trap love and warp it
emotional balance
to step outside and be free
LikeLike
Is it true
witches who turn their backs on Satan
shop at the Dollar Store ?
mother and four children eating ice cream
out of a gallon container
five spoons and a mess
no time for decision-making
each child sown in haste
LikeLike
I’ve seen them all
roaming the land
from shore to shore
with their hands full
of overdue videos
and broken billy idols
hoping to find
just one open
Blockbuster store
as the rebellious yell
from a departure lounge
on the highway to hell
More … More … More!
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3 HOUR ERECTION PILL
your dong starts turning blue
a drive to pleasure
like a ride with your parents
“what have you been thinking about ?”
your mother gives you that look
are you brave enough to say, “masturbation”
off the wall enough to say, “displacement”
(+) Serpent calls Adam a lame duck from an already gendered mutt
LikeLike
PLACEBO TOWN:
the chaos of a meaningless succession of experiences
a future catastrophe for each individual
sometimes one can hear the countdown
the future: increasingly problematical
wretched reality keyed to money
half shut religious eyes
pill driven tomorrows
————–
————–
meanwhile,
at the Honeymoon Hotel
“nothing out of its place is good and nothing in its place is bad”
LikeLike
poor little Phallus
going down
a wonderland hole
on the outskirts
of Placebo Town
a strained gland
in a strange land
half strangled
and going blue
in the hand
of a mad glue sniffer
one pill will make you
grow taller
yet another other pill
will make you
grow shorter
just ask the morbidly obese
pill dispenser
grinning like a Cheshire cat
behind the drug store counter
whilst the Queen of Desire
with no heart
screams . . .
“Off with his head
if he don’t measure up!”
LikeLike
Elvis was on the screen tonight
layers and layers and layers
straight men weep
gays collapse
I made him
shower
(+) insertion then exorcism
LikeLike
It was on the set of Jailhouse Rock
that Colonel Tom Parker
accused me of being a drug cheat
saying no one could keep it up
the entirety of that Girl Happy movie
I strenuously denied being a pusher
I’d only ever supplied Elvis with
opiates, barbiturates, and sedatives,
to be friendly . . . not just for
the new Cadillac and the money
How was I to know he’d keel over
with a heart attack in the lavatory?
Believe me, I’m all shook up about it
LikeLike
was Elvis the noble savage ?
more solitary
than one might expect
endless encounters
with horrid people
REWARDS
of darkened limo rides
his laundry
in a warm mouth
LikeLike
I once went to a séance
in the hope of contacting
the dead Elvis
but just as it got going
my phone started ringing
It was the Colonel asking
how would I be paying
for the King’s appearance
When I answered
with one whole dong
he told me to scram
I then went back to Vietnam
where a dong
is still worth something
… to me and the Viet Cong
LikeLike
AMERICA
where breaking the law is still legal
inadequate males in the gutter
crushing disillusionment
wrapped in common skin
bachelors interrupted
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AMERICA
a land of freedom of choice
where children can be shot
with a Covid-19 vaccine, an
automatic rifle, or both
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AMERICA
the place where old men
incapable of an erection
can still win an election
and function as president
of this here United States
LikeLike
AMERICA
where the pacifist is outgunned
as warfare is good for business
where the fear of poverty and
homelessness keeps the working
class chained to a whipping post
where the privileged think with
the avarice of a rampant penis
where John Wayne and Judas Priest
made it a crime to be a communist
since communism is just like a
Christian cult, but without a cross
. . . or even a Christ
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THE AVARICE OF A RAMPANT PENIS
the length contributes to the meaning
width before length, width seals the deal
close your eyes and feel the sculptural shape
(+) Michael lives in a world where men are heavy footed
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give the reader enough
to be satisfied
momentarily
having the first line
having the last word
Robert Frost with his litter
tried to pay for tobacco
with punctuation
———-
———-
punctuation
at the truck stop showers
“sodomy punctuated in a customary way”
LikeLike
(Natalie Merchant was here today)
with her gray head
begging me to suck her hair
to make a manifestation of myself
Michael with his mouth
full of senior citizen string
“Natalie, she taste like old upholstery”
LikeLike
(Is that what happened to Michael
Stipe? … That would explain a lot.)
LikeLike
(Molly Tuttle took her wig off)
with her baby smooth scalp
not to mention everywhere else
and that bluegrass music
I couldn’t stop myself
from taking a hillbilly mouthful
“Molly, she tastes like Grand Ole Opry!”
LikeLike