The Tower of Song

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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

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6,405 thoughts on “The Tower of Song”

    1. in the long-ago
      before the mobile phone
      I rambled
      and I tumbled
      like a rolling stone
      reality was either
      bent or straight
      as the word on the street
      would alternate
      from angry to sweet
      so after an intense
      chemical lobotomy
      I made my choice
      the poetry of dichotomy
      is where opposing forces
      creation versus oblivion
      drawn by the heat
      of flesh in a frying pan
      can battle it out
      amongst the desolate
      of Placebo Town
      where never the twain
      should ever meet
      as the prime directive
      of pseudo secret agents
      is mass alienation
      even in the long-ago
      before the mobile phone

      Liked by 1 person

  1. the wife says that people should cherish
    more than the facts of their experiences
    not fear so much
    the agents who
    interpretate
    I openly sleep with a ghost
    stuffed with grade school conquests
    boys and girls and sailors from the past
    —————0—————-
    —————0—————-
    Most Asked Question:
    “Did Captain Ahab lose more than a leg to the white whale ?”
    Answer:
    “Yes, when he made water, it ran down his leg.”

    Like

  2. ———————–
    ———————–
    “Moby Dick” employed Melville
    for $600
    not enough for a pair
    of space grown cotton socks
    somewhere in the world
    pygmies sit
    around
    a campfire
    and discuss
    the homoerotic nature
    of Captain Ahab’s crew
    ———————–
    ———————–

    Like

    1. Ishmael
      was rather odd
      the only sailor
      harpoon in hand
      who didn’t go down
      with the good ship Pequod
      he was last seen
      escaping a Turkish prison
      in a burqa
      hand in hand
      with Lawrence of Arabia
      and catching the Midnight Express
      to a land much nicer
      where Moby Dick
      is happily married to Big Lolita
      and Captain Ahab regularly has sex
      with their morbidly obese daughter
      a fat fish called Wanda

      Like

    1. little Lolita now says
      she’s pansexual
      and that I’m her Peter Pan
      a boy lost in the plethora
      of her Neverland
      so I’ve told her
      from now on
      I’m strictly bisexual
      in that I’ll only fornicate
      with her
      twice yearly
      how quickly we forget
      when the castanets come out
      and the maracas start to shake
      God help me . . .
      she now wants it biannually!
      am I to end up
      just an entry
      in the annals of her history?

      Liked by 1 person

  3. how much does a gallon of rain-barrel water cost ?
    youth in a field of dandelions
    old people upset
    everything of value
    ——wasted——
    wasted, wasted, wasted
    the noon whistle
    workday concerns
    imaginative dimensions dulled
    ——20 years later——
    the gloom of the cemetery underskin
    a bedspread layer of sand and soil

    Like

  4. as you daydream
    in your maternal blood stream
    angels massage your navel string
    you are alive
    connected
    electric
    a potent male germ
    who masters the dark of night
    wrestles the singleness of self
    underived and utterly
    unprecedented

    Like

  5. when passengers pass the PLACEBO POLE-STAR
    they suddenly realize that eternity will never be finished
    ( people do leap from the vessel hoping to land on Placebo’s shores )
    (+) those who enter the water are devoured and become fecal matter
    at some unknown time
    fish shit does return
    to the ingathered
    objective

    Like

    1. little Lolita
      and her Viking mother
      have now moved in
      my house
      has become a circus 🎪
      with a lunatic ringmaster
      Lovely Linda
      being a good Christian woman
      wants to look after
      this voracious widow
      and her hormonious orphan
      “We have plenty of room . . .
      and they can stop paying rent.”
      I tried to warn her
      but she just wouldn’t listen
      It’s enough to make
      a grown man weep
      my home has now become
      something in-between
      a cheap honeymoon motel
      and that Hotel California
      it is total bedlam
      I’m now completely depleted
      all skin and bone
      I may even have to cancel
      my membership at the local
      female only gymnasium
      if I wish to be surrounded with
      sweating energetic women
      all I have to do is go home

      Like

  6. beholding mental pictures
    real life with limited detours
    parents sheep dogging children
    idealizing interpretations of fame
    constantly exploited by social media
    —————-
    ——-0——–
    at supper
    Father gave a small talk
    on the penetrative function
    of the penis

    Like

    1. behind iron bars
      Poetry Workshop’s
      compulsive inmates
      are hidden out of sight
      like fireflies in class jars
      desperately flying about
      reaching for the light 🚨
      trying to break out
      could ChatGPT
      possibly set them free? 🦋
      should Elon Musk
      launch them into space 🚀 💥
      Mars is the right kind of place
      for the Workshop of Poetry

      Liked by 1 person

    1. This is how I know
      that Lolita is a sociopath
      there’s now crumbs
      in the butter dish
      she also leaves the lid
      off the toothpaste
      and pubic hairs
      all over my toothbrush 🪥
      but I have to forgive her
      as she sneaks
      into the bathroom
      to watch me shower 😎🚿
      I only wish she’d stop
      posting those videos
      all over TikTok
      I just have to laugh
      Little Lolita
      my social media psychopath
      it’s only her Viking mother
      who can make me cry
      with her Norwegian legs
      that stretch all the way
      to Valhalla in the sky
      and her lack of discipline
      that leaves sweet Lolita
      free to fly 🧚 my path
      of least resistance
      as she now wears a necklace
      made with the extracted teeth
      of the beast 👹
      from my reckless past
      thank goodness
      it’s been redacted by grace
      and that beast defeated
      by a faith that will last

      Like

  7. Moses said this morning,
    “learn to ignore the humans in your life”
    other people may drive your automobile
    but only you pilot your identity
    sacrifice for your expectations
    no matter
    how unrealistic
    how unattainable
    REFUSE TO LIVE WITHIN BOUNDARIES
    if necessary
    be more demanding
    rather than serving and giving
    friends and relatives are less-than-perfect
    to Hell with unremarkable, mundane moments of life

    Like

  8. DADDY, DADDY, DADDY, DADDY, DADDY………..DADDY
    the difference from yourself you notice
    in the people around you
    a large mouth
    stretched out
    into the shape of a kiss
    the ring of privacy
    open and ready

    Like

  9. she was sad, working 10 hour shifts
    trying to put a roof over her head
    poetry and romance passed by
    she had no strength
    to hold on
    SHE WAS AFRAID THAT HER GHOST
    WOULD BE INFERRED FROM HER WRITING
    no one talked to her
    as often as she
    talked to
    herself
    (+) endless conversation (+)

    Like

    1. the great illusion
      human civilization
      nescience writing poems
      of innocence lost
      in the rush to oblivion
      and of romance doomed
      barbarians dancing
      with the ghosts of the past
      over a catacomb of skeletons
      in the darkness of gloom
      Robert Frost
      without his underpants
      Jack Kerouac
      and Karl Marx
      in the tomb
      as the Angel of the Presence
      counts the cost
      all the way
      back to the womb
      a soul survivor
      on the Freedom Train
      crying out . . .
      “Yes, I’ll be a witness!”
      the great illusion
      human degradation
      limited only
      by man’s imagination

      Like

    1. all is vanity
      in that pOETRY wORKSHOP
      on the outskirts of sanity
      where round pegs
      are flattened and squared
      only those with feet of clay
      who have conquered fear
      along life’s crooked path
      ask themselves
      what am I doing here?
      as nowhere to be found
      on the dusty shelves
      of Placebo Town
      is that promised throne
      and it’s elusive crown 👑

      Like

  10. inescapable desires to be in the grave
    a world where no one questions your size
    or compares you to the size of another
    where you do not have to parade
    to be seen by others
    your restoration
    is complete

    Like

    1. when I diagnosed lovely Linda
      as having a bad case of Long David
      she just laughed
      saying she could cure that
      with something sharp
      whereas little Lolita
      believes everything I tell her
      and as for the Viking mother
      anything that transports her
      to the banquet halls of Valhalla
      much to my relief
      her sociopathic daughter
      is an unbeliever
      when it comes to Nordic myths
      since who could ever measure up
      to Mjölnir
      Thor’s magical hammer?

      Like

  11. woman and child
    in the prison cell
    jailed on all sides
    she trading wares
    for nourishment
    knowing her man
    would return
    the peasant
    welcomes
    peasantry
    ——-
    ——-
    a strange shadow
    her man
    scientific
    vile

    Like

  12. peasants spit tobacco
    when poets mention peasantry
    horses blow snot
    and make crazy leg
    ————–
    ————–
    Johnny Cash quickly grew tired of
    sewed fig leaves, coats of skins
    24/7 “Stairway to Heaven”

    Like

    1. reduced to dust
      nothing but a protein shake
      an energy drink dispenser
      for that succubus of lust
      hungry little Lolita
      if only there was more of me
      with an endless
      intravenous supply of water 💦
      perhaps I could take better care
      of lovely Linda 🌹
      and that Viking mother ⚔️?

      Like

  13. the agent that knocked on the door
    asked me
    “was I from the Tarot Witch Ravine ?”
    and I was from the Ravine
    a scary place by day
    a place to let alone
    by night
    —————–
    —————–
    heartbeats in defiance
    lock the doors
    the windows
    Ravine folk
    hungry

    Like

  14. lovers nuzzling the darkness of night
    power lines touch the ground
    skeletons creep on knees
    no street lights
    no cars
    citizens ask me my favorite movie
    countless choices, good/bad
    guess I like to see actors
    climb themselves
    up above the
    clouds

    Like

    1. Dream On
      the awakening
      to the thirsting heat
      of an angry sun
      shining hard upon
      an endless oasis
      high above the clouds
      she sees me coming
      from behind
      a glorious shroud
      of ravenous lust
      her all seeing clitoris
      with eyelids
      now wide open
      all hot and swollen
      with fertile intention
      begging the question
      .. is love divine
      the celestial solution
      washing clean the deepest
      and darkest ravine
      with the seed of creation?

      Like

  15. REALITY:
    characters feel that they have outsmarted their tiny drama
    only to discover that they have been double-crossed
    paralyzed and slowly leaking the life force
    ——————–
    ——————–
    (1) embarrassed by pissing yourself
    (2) angry for lack of a final smoke

    Like

  16. I’ve been down this road before
    in and out of the Ravine
    young and healthy
    the exit ticket
    much too soon
    ( it is no secret that Jesus is jealous )
    double-crossed and leaking like a damaged hourglass

    Like

    1. Dream On
      the awakening
      to a loud door knocking scene
      an agent yelling out . . .
      “You know she’s only sixteen?!”
      the Viking mother yelling back . . .
      “We have no idea of what you mean?
      According to Horse & Hound Magazine,
      sixteen is the new eighteen!”
      Viking mother then took
      that aggressive agent by the hand
      and led him into the kitchen
      soon after he stumbled out
      pale and shaking
      mumbling something about
      having the wrong information
      and profusely apologizing
      Linda just sat quietly in the corner
      whispering . . .
      “Everything is going to plan.”

      Like

  17. RIGHT NOW is apprehended only as it is passing away
    the reader misreading my words
    living by flashlight
    so darkness cannot
    extinguish our life
    (+) we share Earth with constant praise of God (+)

    Like

    1. (+) you will go out in joy and be led forth
      in peace … the mountains and hills will
      burst into song before you and all the
      trees of the field will clap their hands 👏

      Like

  18. you can only forget what you have known
    try to erase the hours of yesterday
    the minutes of today
    travel hand in hand
    ( WARNING: male hands are gloves of masturbation )
    ————–
    ————–
    good intentions and bad choices
    God pulling us from nothingness

    Like

    1. the serenity of nothingness
      as nothing says peace of mind
      like a book burning in Florida
      with a kind WARNING: female
      hands do much the same 👌
      only in a concave fashion 🔅👈
      perhaps those gloves should be
      tied together ✋🤚 by order
      of the Governor of Florida❓

      Like

  19. you may make jokes about me
    not walking a tightrope
    the corrections
    below my
    knees
    all that has gone
    all that remains
    (+) animal metaphors (+)
    to live a life, laboriously revised and rewrote

    Like

    1. the painter covers the surface
      a preoccupation
      the artist captures
      what lies beneath
      riding high on creation
      the genius driven
      by an all consuming passion
      to plumbs the depths
      chasing divine inspiration
      whilst dissecting reality
      with the tooth of a dragon
      grasping
      an inexplicable explanation
      to light the flame
      before they could run
      Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali
      doing art school in Spain
      the entertainer
      offers temporary relief
      some light distraction
      extraverted conflict
      a cracked actor honing his craft
      with the tooth of a dragon
      from James Dean to Kurt Cobain
      your choice
      a sports car or a shotgun
      loaded karma
      splashed with trauma
      too heavy for some
      Andy Warhol on the run
      Lou Reed meets David Bowie
      a cultural transformation
      James Bond is fiction only
      a spurt of big dick envy
      in need of some pussy action
      with the tooth of a dragon

      … and then there’s Bob Dylan
      who skinned the dragon
      after chasing it to the gates of Eden

      Like

  20. the simple mouse
    that knows
    outer space
    is without merit
    a thousand years
    the first rest stop
    (devils chuckle at the odds)
    meanwhile,
    the governor of Florida
    burns books
    and tortures citizens
    unhappy with their gender

    Like

  21. detachment from the world
    what a hobby !
    a need to intellectualize
    no poop too small
    poetry about frayed turds
    —————
    —————
    outside the
    poetry circle
    pharmaceutical
    without permission

    Like

  22. peeling away the layers of Reader’s Digest
    each and every thing coated
    myths, rumors, crazy speculation
    each and every thing coated
    peeling away the layers of Reader’s Digest
    fracturing the thoughts of others
    doing the crazy foot with Genesis

    Like

    1. A simple prayer
      for those brave
      yet foolish souls
      who went to sea
      upon a flood
      of acid reflux
      time and space
      peeled away
      in a purple haze
      Fortuna Redux
      I humbly pray 🙏

      (no Tibetan Book of the Dead is
      that American Reader’s Digest)

      Like

    1. to arrogate
      like an arrow 🏹
      through a narrow gate💘
      is it the fate
      of those who ovulate ♀️
      to become a target 🎯
      for a shooter
      sharp and straight ♂️💦❓
      there’s no time to hesitate
      as those eggs 🥚
      have a use by date ⌚
      and the flower of youth🌺
      needs to pollinate 🐝
      plenty of time later
      for buyer’s regret 😢
      when burning lust ❤️‍🔥😎
      turns to stone cold hate 🪨🥶

      Like

  23. apes require their children to suffer years of Marquis de Sade
    parading them around nude while quoting Freud
    born with gender and forced to drag it about
    never taught that either must subsume

    Like

    1. the Marquis de Sade
      a true aristocratic
      working class hero
      who new the meaning of pain
      and how best to inflict it
      a natural born Republican
      the Governor of Florida
      wants to have him exhumed
      to run his election campaign
      when he runs for President

      Like

    1. a multitude of voices
      offering a myriad of choices
      influencers
      and soft shoe shufflers
      from the danger zone
      some put up defences
      in their private and personal
      poetry circle
      exposed and prone
      whilst others tear down the walls
      like a virtual reality rebel
      hoping for a poetic miracle
      as they lock horns with the devil
      from the safe distance
      of a mobile phone
      whilst many
      seek eagerly an audience
      in a game of pretence
      upon a throne of pretty prose
      as they pound the flesh
      with their chains
      of skin and bone
      then finished off
      with a rubber hose
      in my poetry circle
      I stand alone
      listening out
      for that golden voice
      from somewhere else
      calling me home

      Like

    1. “This is the evil in everything that
      happens under the sun: The same
      destiny overtakes all. The hearts
      of men, moreover, are full of evil
      and there is madness in their hearts
      while they live, and afterward they
      join the dead.” ~ E Anon

      Like

  24. unshaved men
    forcing themselves inside
    happy with their large size
    each monster dong contained
    perpetually growing multitudes
    the necessity of deposit was urgent
    yes, necessity of deposit most urgent

    Like

    1. I suspect little Lolita
      has been cheating on me
      I found a King Kong™ condom
      in her school bag
      and what was obviously
      a Clinton corsage
      on her sports sweater
      the one that says “TOUCHDOWN!”
      but then . . . I did tell her to go
      and find someone her own age
      but not some spurting gorilla 🦍
      I might have some strong words
      with her Viking mother
      as a spanking may be in order 🤔🕶️

      Like

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