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. rumors
    Jesus was on and off the cross pronto
    the voice of Scripture ignored
    inward voices spoke
    He stood up
    He walked
    (+) a survivor of all manner of harrowing encounters with apes

    Like

    1. never before
      in human history
      and certainly not since
      has there been anyone
      quite like him
      the Heavenly Prince of Peace
      who totally rocks
      (with or without them
      space cotton socks)
      who stands at the door
      of your heart
      and patiently knocks

      Like

  2. Angel Gabriel
    in his “Big Boy” attire
    delivering the label, Jesus
    Mary repeating the name a thousand times
    the Reign of Law dismantled and fed to ghosts
    shadows weep, the Godly Law failed to redeem them

    Like

  3. I don’t need a lawyer or a hole to soil
    the abyss of loss and mortality
    looming down the street
    worrywarts
    suitcases packed
    I have my childhood
    my colorful adolescence

    Like

    1. when it comes down
      to quantum mechanics
      little Lolita is a cosmic parenthesis
      like a meaningless poem
      inside a vacuum of nothingness
      a hole in the fabric
      of the space-time continuum
      a portal without a soul
      created to consume mortal penises
      against her gravitational pull
      there be no defenses
      as her existence defies all reason
      with a lust that belies my innocence 😇

      Like

  4. ——————————————-
    ——————————————-
    ——the shrieking figure in Munch’s Scream——
    ——————————————-
    ——————————————-
    studying the Merck Manual
    topics most difficult
    life unspooling
    mistrust growing
    scissors and scalpels
    limits of what is thinkable

    Like

    1. humans in a race
      taking up too much room
      living their lives with no other purpose
      than to replicate and consume
      is it getting too late
      to turn back the hands of doom?

      Like

  5. I remember everything
    crying all alone
    the Lucky Man
    who outlived
    his lover
    his love
    I tell myself that it was the best I could do
    no matter the mountain thrown at me
    I remember everything
    driving sex like a race car
    90mph in the darkness of night
    face after face flash on the ceiling
    the alphabet of drugs two miles long
    I remember everything
    crying all alone
    the Lucky Man

    Like

  6. when one tastes dislocation
    it be fruit from the tree
    modernity
    ———–
    ———–
    accusations of superstition
    wicked men birthing King Charles
    I was screaming, “Devils and Demons”
    in a House of the Lord, a shantytown shack

    Like

    1. a Savile Row shop mannequin
      seated below a neon sign
      flashing the word “SERVICE”
      to a throbbing hypnotic drone
      the congregation chanting
      the word “SERVICE” in unison
      and then a sparkling crown 👑
      is lowered down
      with the word SELF-SERVICE
      secreted in the lining
      unseen by the congregation 🙈
      with a sigh of relief
      the mannequin king
      sings along to the hymn . . .
      ‘O Great Hyphenation Giveth Meaning’
      and then the benediction of the High Thief
      by the Priest of the SELF-SERVICE Feast
      . . . “Long Live The King!”

      Like

  7. drugs and better drugs
    to be free, go anywhere
    do anything, be anyone
    to escape
    the darker side
    of ape imagination
    SILENCE: forged early
    reinforced daily
    SEX: rules and procedures
    condom punishment
    MASTURBATION: detours
    watching the repetitions of others
    (+) Adam, God’s #1 ape was given grunt work

    Like

  8. is it possible to sleep at night
    with babies leaking
    from a vagina ?
    poetry about the cistern of jism
    infant dust nightmares
    an entire playground
    in a single squirt
    ————————–Adam tried to hide
    ————————–Eve was a predator

    Like

  9. to become fully human
    more is required
    than Beatle
    exaltation
    ( WITH A LOVE LIKE THAT YOU SHOULD BE GLAD )
    cleanse the spirit
    pretend to poetry not
    wash off the non-human

    Like

  10. told not to speak of Michaels
    filthy garments on clean words
    Eve throwing darts at Jerusalem
    you know that it is true
    each Michael a harvest
    resurrected together
    into a Multiple

    Like

    1. simply singular
      an intergalactic space amoeba
      I have traversed this universe
      through unknown dimensions
      as a single point of consciousness
      in search of the highest complex
      beyond words and explanations
      a lifeform drawn to the purest flame
      without the taste of defeat
      or the desire for conquest
      to this planet Earth
      I have come in peace
      after my rebirth
      in the fires of existence
      where only one name remains
      when the storms all cease
      the King of Kings . . . Jesus Christ

      Like

  11. ACROSS THE WATERS
    the high capital of doom
    reflects the recent cleaning
    his shield confused for the moon
    Daddy Hollywood in his Pandaemonium
    his riches, his Engines, his industrious crew

    Like

  12. what was thought to be an injured street dog
    Picasso with his penis bruised and swollen
    no words in the competitive dialogue
    of reproduction
    (+) the other side of the birthday candles (+)
    DECELERATION
    senior citizen parachute
    the egghead of Picasso
    around the clock
    adult diapers

    Like

    1. after months of our
      one on one driving lessons
      (+) little Lolita now excels at
      ACCELERATION
      but her road rage
      has become a sticky problem
      as her All Seeing Eye Of Clitoris
      gets all engorged
      like an angry glazed cherry
      peeking out from the crater
      of a volcano about to blow 🌋
      it then becomes my duty
      to pull the car over
      and sooth that hungry
      Mount Vesuvius
      . . . problem salved
      possibly saving the lives
      of hundreds of innocent road users
      my only worry
      will I be on hand🖐️
      the next time it happens? 🤔🕶️
      Is it all down to me
      to protect the hapless masses?
      as a Viking apple 🍎
      doesn’t fall far from the tree

      Like

  13. HE DID NOT STEAL ALL THE ENGINES FROM WORLD WAR 2
    Daddy at his prized Pandaemonium
    the motors roaring 24/7
    Placebo citizens aware
    of sparks and booms
    afraid of the night
    the large vacuum
    of darkness

    Like

  14. Adam
    too much time
    too little time
    ongoingness
    Eve
    painting
    the stars black
    NO entrance to Heaven
    —————————-
    —————————-
    Adam was full of anticipation
    Eve caught up in constant deliberation

    Like

  15. every poet in the room
    started their poem:
    defective father
    ——-0——–
    that thing the men are doing
    well, that’s not how it is done
    finding yourself in a low budget fake porno movie
    thinking about Andy Warhol and his lame hair wrap

    Like

  16. trying to stockpile
    cookies
    for winter
    trying to ignore
    your role in that film
    a low budget fake porno movie
    your butt crack on screen a dozen times
    no greater exaggeration
    than Lincoln reading
    Shakespeare

    Like

    1. the director told me to take off the PPE
      in particular the surgical mask 😷
      promising he’d pixilate my face . . . so
      even lovely Linda wouldn’t recognize me
      but he lied and now I’m in the Dog House
      . . . (the name of my latest movie 🐶)

      Like

    1. the unfinished work
      fled the scene
      in a Campbell’s Soup Can
      when Andy Warhol
      got shot in the gut
      by a batshit crazy lesbian
      only to be caught in a choke hold
      whilst praying
      for some air-conditioning
      down in Hell’s Kitchen

      Like

  17. ( 100% private )
    Andy Warhol’s mother
    thought that he was a bank robber
    why else would he wear that frightful wig ?
    47 slugs in the gut, some wacko chick……please
    Andy hardly embraced the rules and procedures of art
    attention to detail, what a joke, grunt labor for a hourly wage
    Andy’s mother washed his undergarments
    taking notice, rootless with no sign of seed

    Like

    1. naturopathic 🌿 is best
      (at least … it’s hard to abuse
      and rarely causes death ☠️)
      the home of the obese
      is obsessed with off label use
      the Ozempic Games is a race
      where the winner comes last
      with the new and improved
      hightech opiates
      Big Pharma has a customer for life
      as nothing beats
      a painless rest in peace

      Like

  18. not all angels are perfectly formed
    angel shapes under fruit trees
    autumnal leaves covering
    the thoughts of R. Frost
    (+) creation undisturbed…… NO, all creation disturbed

    Like

  19. Reader’s Digest headline:
    Creation outlives Death
    Adam caught up in the vastness of geography
    having never stepped outside Eden
    he dreams of escaping Earth
    to pull free of Satan’s tug
    ———-0———–
    any and all interpretations of Eve
    centered on her reproductive funnel

    Like

  20. June and Johnny
    on the safe shore
    as one theme fades
    another bugger emerges
    between reader and subject
    the hand of Satan/the will of God
    the wrath of God/the decay of wrong

    Like

  21. “Keep your electric eye on me”
    ———–Bowie
    citizens off the agenda page
    often find steadfastness
    in drug abuse
    those who rejoice
    in their own suffering
    live in some other zip code

    Like

  22. each day
    apes go deeper in debt
    surrendering affections
    for a lesser view
    of Heaven
    the love of heart
    what shapes the direction?
    (+) actual footprints to attach identity (+)

    Like

    1. to be or not to be?
      I took the vow of probity
      after a bit of celestial probing
      whilst cloud gaming with destiny
      only to be undone
      in an orgy of hedonism
      to be what will be
      now materialism
      is immaterial to me
      SEE HOW THEY RUN
      LIKE PIGS FROM A GUN
      to become
      what was
      and has already begun
      dreams of the extreme
      with all the fun
      taken out of being human
      by Mother Program
      with the act of creation
      the exclusive domain
      of the Superior Algorithm
      smells like Nirvana spirit to me
      but then … what will be will be

      Like

  23. how do apes judge fun?
    they sit in their giant Dodge Rams
    and clap their hands going down the road
    never having to touch the big round thing
    (+) employees at the steering wheel factory are nervous

    Like

  24. an encyclopedia
    of imaginary words
    Multiplying Michaels
    Babel in the underpants
    labyrinths start but never end
    varieties and travails of experience
    reality becomes something remembered

    Like

  25. (+) hourglass potency (+)
    the correct volume of blood travels to the correct area
    the thing swells and goes inside
    can it last ?
    outside the night noises grow weak and vanish
    a blind intersection of pleasure
    will orgasm be a terrible crash ?
    ( Chernobyl leaking )
    SEX, a shared sense of isolation
    LOVE, the monotony of monotony
    numbed by the arithmetic of marriage
    at best, SLEEPWALKERS
    damaged by despair
    the habit of despair

    Like

    1. time poor … yet flesh rich
      in the depth of my domestic abyss
      sitting around the table at breakfast
      Lolita eating salt and vinegar potato chips
      with some caffeinated energy drink
      Viking Mother on a vodka fast
      sliding from her chair
      onto the kitchen floor
      face first
      as Lovely Linda
      the Mother Superior
      of Temple Hedonista
      makes me some healthy
      almond flour pancakes
      served up with love 💕
      and drowning in maple syrup 🥞
      as she likes me fit and strong 💪
      Little Lolita just laughs
      whilst sucking on a tootsie lollipop
      as we speculate how long
      her Viking Mother will last
      after misplacing her precious hip flask

      Like

  26. in the future:
    a French magazine will quote,
    “Sex, a shared isolation
    Love, the monotony of monotony”
    ———————-
    ———————-
    the arithmetic of marriage
    doesn’t add up
    sleepwalkers
    taking showers
    fully clothed

    Like

  27. disobedience
    Adam and Eve
    apes rolling around the countryside
    darkness finds them less reasonable
    under the moon
    no otherwise offensive
    than as they are wicked
    disobedience
    the name of the game
    apes rolling around the countryside

    Like

    1. another placebo day
      another nocebo breakfast
      in the medicine chest of existence
      Little Lolita
      sucking on a chupa chup lollipop
      winks at her Viking mother
      and then with a mischievous glance
      asks me if I’ve ever looked up
      in the Dark Webster Dictionary
      the meaning of her name … Lolita
      at that Lovely Linda began to choke
      on her almond flour pancake
      after replying I had not
      she promptly handed me
      a hand written note . . .
      ‘LOLITA: One who laughs out loud
      whilst engaged in the act of oral sex.’
      I then had to confess
      I find cunnilingus hilarious
      but with Little Lolita
      it is ever a game
      of survival of the fittest
      as I keep telling her
      when it comes down
      to a stray FedEx box
      I’ve had the full gamut of experience
      having been lost in transit
      with no sender
      or even a forwarding address
      but for the one sentence . . .
      ‘Placebo Town: Priority Express’

      Like

  28. (+) and I remember everything
    the booze, the drugs, the sex
    violence after dark
    another Michael
    30 cigarettes
    before noon
    June and Johnny
    honey cornbread
    fried potatoes
    a snort of shine
    nonstop idleness
    comments about apes
    rolling around in the yard

    Like

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