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. Americans wearing the concrete boots of poverty
    fat mosquitoes finding it difficult to fly
    Gertrude Stein Dollar Store wings
    (bourgeois privilege)
    padded bras with pillows
    tiny nipples too small to suckle

    Like

  2. why do you offer me such a small swallow
    when a real man can drink the next bottle
    and walk away
    it may be difficult for me to stand
    fancy feet are machine made
    (+) the next bottle begs to touch my lips

    Like

    1. the final diagnosis
      a terminal case
      of Long Christmas
      the New Year
      only made things worse
      I’m hoping to recover
      whilst fully expecting
      to be dead by Easter
      Lolita has kindly asked
      to write my obituary
      and if she can have the house
      what would I do without her?
      probably have lived a lot longer

      Like

  3. the geography of myself:
    a heart of stone
    a 1000 spoons
    a human map
    napkin free
    the geography of myself:
    a large number of birds set on fire
    and thrown into the air, young Michael
    taken from his crib and tossed into darkness

    Like

  4. she said that she was full of EXPLETIVES
    her car seat confirmed that as fact
    ————————————————R. Frost: “She was a dusty moth about the lamps”
    a body built for acceleration
    reptilian and in season

    Like

    1. I’ve been infected by an STD
      the Succubus of Teenage Death
      was it Rock ‘n’ Roll suicide?
      At least friends and family
      can proudly say
      I gave it my best shot
      but for now there’s only
      a pulsating throbbing void
      where my genitalia should be

      (when I told Lolita I had a bad
      case of Long Christmas, she thought
      I was offering her a present 💝
      how was I to know she’s a carrier
      of hypercoital scrotumotosis
      the rest wasn’t my fault, so help me✋)

      Like

    2. a conundrum old as time
      when Adam was young
      locked and loaded like a gun
      Eve was it … with her bit ♀️
      the one and only
      with whom Adam could do it
      according to the Bible
      (not counting the animals😻)
      so should men now be
      naturally monogamous
      or was there no need
      in the beginning
      to hardwire fidelity
      into the brain of man ♂️❓
      as there was no other choice
      in the Garden of Eden
      an oversight that might
      save mankind the trouble
      of having to explain 🤔🕶️
      the inexplicable unexplainable
      by my observations 👁️♀️👁️
      the female brain 🧠
      created under the same conditions
      is just as susceptible 💋🍏👅

      Like

    1. I am a river
      unto my people
      but lately things have got
      decidedly ridiculous
      whilst slipping out
      of her Vera Wang dress
      my tax accountant advised me
      whether widow or orphan
      to give up the casual sex
      as it gets hard for her
      to get a deduction for it
      from the IRS
      but if I must …
      to keep it
      strictly business
      and on a more formal basis
      as a coincidence
      the man behind
      a smiley face mask
      Lolita’s gynaecologist
      has told her
      to give it a rest
      which left her gobsmacked
      but he knew it wouldn’t last

      Like

  5. simple words to say
    “I fondled her clitoris”
    it just seems Caucasian
    language is inadequate
    pOETRY wORKSHOP
    the irrational is acceptable
    only if it happens rationally
    unfiltered, free of being human
    Michael before and after the grave
    on my way from Beersheba to Haran

    Like

  6. a slow journey
    away from family
    faces, voices, whims
    sexual nonidentity
    —————————
    —————————
    —————————
    my favorite lesbian librarian
    with a clitoris the size of a tree
    something more than mysterious

    Like

  7. the connection
    between
    the bleating lamb
    and Mother’s giant clitoris
    parental sex over the years
    Hustler magazine orgasms
    (masturbating with Father sounding like a steam engine)
    (masturbating with a background sound of parental in-and-out)

    Like

  8. no-where-to-hide
    the separation of imagination and intellectual capacity
    common thoughts stuffed into unpleasant dreams
    you help your wife change her pad
    and you walk away broken
    envies beyond count

    Like

    1. Carnivàle Del Carnale

      I am a river
      unto my people
      but after
      a long hot summer
      the reservoir
      is running dry
      that succubus
      in a short dress
      with a steaming fissure
      that goes on forever
      has taken my very best
      blow by blow
      across a moist ravine
      of flowing lava
      and the breadth
      of her most generous breast
      as flesh and bone
      are put to the test
      my strength now depleted
      and my soul turned to stone
      by a succubus who has nearly
      sucked me to death
      immortalized and mummified
      on her mobile phone 🖤🤳
      yet my will is strong 💪😎
      and overheated
      in the depths
      of a testosterone zone
      strung out on the scent
      of pheromones swimming
      in an ocean of estrogen
      so right or wrong
      it won’t be long
      till I hear her moaning
      meanwhile
      I’ll just take my time
      and have a nice rest 😴 🕶️
      at home … sweet home 🏠

      Like

  9. In Prison
    You Finger Yourself
    You Finger Your Turds
    Before They Exit And Fall
    I often told the ward nurse
    “compromised serotonergic functioning”
    ———————————
    ———————————
    poetry for those who are dry and brittle
    afraid of life and sparks thrown off cigarettes

    Like

  10. open the lid
    the coast seems clear
    enough drug intake to impair judgment
    (+) Death comes wearing white gloves
    death: pent enthusiasm
    you realize that your warmth has faded away
    dry and brittle
    the wind has become your enemy

    Like

    1. The Derisions Of Lolita

      another day running dry
      on the streets of passion
      yet another driving lesson
      Lolita in her short skirt
      steering the wheel
      of my obsession
      me in the passenger seat
      free to admire her tits
      jiggling without a bra
      for added suspension
      whilst fiddling
      with the radio dial
      tuning into that station
      playing the greatest hits
      of a dying generation
      the very next song
      to come along . . .
      “I’m just asshole who’s
      intentions are good.
      Oh Lord, please don’t let
      me be misunderstood.”
      was I hearing it right
      or was I getting it wrong?
      It just couldn’t be true!
      Lolita was smiling
      and grooving along
      saying . . . “This song
      could be all about you.”

      Like

  11. Michael, dry and brittle
    driftwood in a fancy gift shop
    fellow poets rambling in alien tongues
    impossible to ignore their petrified eyes
    ———0———
    ———0———
    PETRIFIED EYES ARE MORE BULLETS IN THE CYLINDER

    Like

  12. pOETRY wORKSHOP:
    women
    who rend their clothes
    and lay violent hands upon themselves
    before libraries
    lesbians with perturbed minds
    in need of therapeutic ass kneading
    WORDS IMAGINARILY SPOKEN
    mental rattle over science
    the great enemy of poetry

    Like

    1. Since Viking Mother
      has been away
      enjoying her stay
      at Guantanamo Bay
      (At the taxpayer’s
      expense no less!)
      I’ve taken over the task
      of instructing Lolita
      in the art of sexual politics
      she has all the right assets
      for a long term deposit
      to secure financial success
      on the futures market
      It’s all about the manipulation
      of her generous ergonomics
      and the science of human lust
      (nothing poetic about it)
      it usually needs to be taught
      one way or another
      (but thankfully Lolita does
      have that predatory instinct)
      lessons sadly neglected
      by Viking Mother
      It’s no wonder she went bust

      (I do regret planting that diary
      with Joe Biden’s top secret travel
      itinerary, along with a copy of the
      Quoran and a kilo of Columbian
      cocaine, in her backpack at JFK
      airport. It was rather mean of me,
      but I’d probably do it again 🤔🕶️)

      Like

  13. cryptic verse
    children from your school days
    holding hands in a circle
    around your fresh grave
    no one informed them
    about the impassable
    barrier
    THE IMPASSABLE BARRIER BETWEEN THE LIVING AND THE DEAD
    no direct information or clear evidence
    (+) Death is happy
    (+) God supplies Death with supreme nourishment

    Like

  14. up, down, sideways
    weathervane in a storm
    awareness dulled with age
    the mouse in Jagger’s chest
    gnawing away
    ————
    ————
    only nibbles away from bye-bye
    will Rooster Boy yield his identity ?

    Like

    1. DNA dissolving
      in a rush of pure heroin
      art becoming counterfeit
      as death imitates the living
      through the eye of extinction
      tattoos lose their thoughts
      grasping for meaning
      in the year of the mutation
      as death imitates the living
      adrift upon a sea of acid
      with the shoreline rising
      there’s a thief in the night
      cutting the future’s throat
      the past never stops bleeding
      as death imitates the living

      Like

  15. poets escape their skin
    glow in the dark
    YACKETYACKING
    poets escape injured lovers
    truckloads of undigested love
    suffering the need to erase
    memories and anecdotes
    skinned knees, valentines
    FRIENDS THAT BECAME PETS
    (+) display your genitals
    a platonic conversation at best

    Like

  16. a thousand girlfriends from the past
    at the age of 13, you deflowered with craft
    now they haunt you, emails and door knocks
    they say things about your Willy and giftbag
    EXTENSIONS and COMPREHENSIONS
    (+) selfhood, a sort of cobweb

    Like

  17. separated at birth
    the need to be reunited
    Mother has walked away
    ———–the older whores are on the ground
    where all the ladders start
    (+) single thought reality
    (+) prayer and contemplation: clear not colored

    Like

  18. poets
    he and she
    who reside
    uncommitted
    circus animals
    often in the shade
    of human sensibility
    “Mommy, what about me ?”
    —————————————–
    —————————————–
    Russian tourists partying in the muck of North Korea
    at one time, a loving heart, a proud conscious mind

    Like

    1. the call to karaoke
      echoes out from the walls
      of Poetry Workshop
      with the lyrics
      of artificial intelligence
      squirting pseudo bliss
      over the receptive recesses
      of reciprocal ignorance
      or just simply lip sync
      along with all the rest

      Like

    2. Russia
      and North Korea
      engage in oral sex
      as China
      dressed up
      in a panda suit
      watches over
      with obvious pleasure
      in anticipation
      of what’s to come next
      Taiwan
      bent over the precipice
      of a perilous erection
      embraced
      for a serve of the worst
      Beef Chow Mein
      from a can
      to the frying pan
      enter the dragon
      with a reptilian penis
      about to burst
      as Russia
      and North Korea
      engage in a game
      of anal sex
      where Vladimir
      puts it in
      and always comes first

      Like

  19. everyone has relatives lodged under the ladders to Heaven
    the dead beneath the living, arms, legs, internal colors
    mounds of refuse, satellites and space junk
    I acknowledge that romantic dreams
    are just turds spraypainted
    candy apple red

    Like

    1. it’s a throw down
      in Placebo Town
      between those chosen
      to carry the Ark of Burden
      through a gauntlet of fire
      past bolts of lightning
      and the seething multitude
      brandishing the counterfeit
      birth certificate of a false profit
      descending like grains of sand
      from the loins of a handmaiden
      engaged for an act
      of in-service prostitution
      it’s a throw down
      in Placebo Town
      to settle for all time
      who’s legitimate
      and who’s not
      as if Abraham could give a damn
      but … that’s just my thought 🤔🕶️
      on the vexed subject
      of a Placebo Town stalemate

      Like

    1. some chicken has given me the pox
      of neither the big nor the small variety
      just enough to give me the shingles
      in all the wrong places 😢🕶️
      having been misdiagnosed by no less
      than two doctors of mass incompetence
      losing the chance to take the remedy
      efficiently and effectively
      I suspect it was Lolita
      who so generously gave it to me
      at least I needn’t worry about Linda
      she has the combined immune system
      of the Justice League on penicillin
      Perhaps if I asked her nicely she’d give
      me a Kryptonian blood transfusion?

      Like

    1. my bountiful wife
      the Queen of the Harvest
      is a receptacle of optimism
      with her glass half full
      as I try my best
      to take her to the edge
      with a Super Hero orgasm
      for I long to witness
      a woman taken by the wind
      under my command
      in the throes of primal passion

      Like

  20. (undeserved suffering)
    misdeeds
    unconscious misdeeds
    PUNISHMENT: misdeeds from a previous existence
    the frock of persecution
    practitioners
    ———0———
    (+) (+) The Beatles are no longer The Beatles. The boys have lost their voices. They sound like ravens (+) (+)
    ———0———
    “I am enduring all that noise, coveting nothing”
    a ton of recorded stuff and my Beatle boots to the curb
    George and John have been made aware but could care less

    Like

    1. I’m shuffling around
      up a down Placebo Town
      like a veteran from the Vietnam war
      who sat on a landmine
      I’m staggering around
      like a two bit whore
      who got a backdoor delivery
      she wasn’t expecting
      when I start to explain
      that I’ve got the shingle
      to my friends on the hussle
      they just smile and try not to giggle
      even the head librarian
      made the comment …
      “I hope you got their number plate?”
      with that sly look on her face
      I knew exactly what she meant
      she couldn’t help but follow it up
      “Just let me know the next time
      you want to experiment!”

      Like

  21. the Circle
    instructors so old they pass away
    standing at the chalkboard
    tiles fall from the ceiling
    clouds pass by overhead
    the janitor jerks-off in his mop closet
    Jagger singing about Daddy being a fool to cry
    ———0———
    students and instructors are passively forced to agree:
    “GUILT CANNOT ACCRUE BY VIRTUE OF ONE’S SIMPLE EXISTENCE”
    far from the truth, an ugly horseface lie
    guilt has no rules, guilt obeys no rules

    Like

    1. Guilt is a package left at your door step
      by a FedEx courier in a gorilla suit🚪🎁🦍
      I was handed a delivery box full of it
      back when guilt was painted black
      nowadays people hang it from the
      rooftop like Christmas decorations

      Like

  22. adolescent keys to adult locks
    self-directed sensitivity
    the wife with her panic
    the challenge of sex
    supreme burden
    or hoax
    the wife laughing with a neighbor woman
    “that idiot with his sexual infantilism
    I can hear his penis in the dark
    crying out in Yiddish”

    Like

    1. I found out the hard way
      the Head Librarian’s
      idea of experimentation
      was me as the masochistic submissive
      dressed up in a Taylor Swift
      sparkling Versace bodysuit
      and her playing the sadistic dominatrix
      dressed as a Kansas City Chief
      I just hope I didn’t infect her tight end
      with the chicken pox 🐔
      thus paying the price for touching
      what Taylor keeps hidden
      underneath her sparkling body suit

      Like

  23. poetry distilled from teenage angst
    I know my circle, my hand-grip
    the world’s tallest tree
    I could easily climb
    from the very top
    Placebo Town
    in its glory
    ———–
    ———–
    so many have passed through the gate
    ghost world transport, blank names
    much too late to argue with God
    the trumpets have sounded

    Like

  24. (Nick Cave sings “Waiting for You” for 36 hours)
    —————————————————
    anticipate
    anticipate
    anticipate
    your honeymoon night
    anticipate that glorious occasion
    orgasm like a bull elephant (two times)
    THE WIFE BECOMES A BOULDER
    IN YOUR STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS
    arms and legs sticking out of unwillingness
    (+) voyeuristic neighbors found lacking nutrition (+)

    Like

    1. Shared Humanity
      mutual revulsion?
      a contagion?
      self serving?
      a shared needle
      of self loathing?
      a medication given
      in a state of confusion?
      Shared Humanity
      this means nothing to me
      being an alien orphan
      detained on the border
      of Placebo Town
      and then bussed
      to Long Island
      in a sealed FedEx box
      with a radioactive atom
      that had a 50% chance
      of decaying and releasing
      a poisonous gas
      Shared Humanity
      thankfully I’m alive
      with eight lives still intact
      I’ve had the inoculation
      and revenge is sweet
      as I am a singular
      dealing in stolen antiquities
      operating in formation
      I don’t have all the details
      but according to The Pride
      everything is going to plan
      the future will be shared
      by the humans who survive
      the abomination of desolation
      Shared Humanity
      mutual insanity
      genocide given meaning
      a delusion fit for everyone

      Like

  25. Pat Sajak and Alex Trebek
    nervous padlocks
    bolt cutter
    erections
    BOLT CUTTER ERECTIONS
    in America, famous people drive fast late at night
    windows rolled down
    100mph
    Sour Diesel hybrid-Indica
    limited visibility excitement
    after 11pm driving across rural Florida
    a small highway in search of a more prominent one
    millions of frogs performing Pink Floyd before Pompeii
    Pat Sajak and Alex Trebek
    expressive elements
    on a dark roadway
    late night across
    Florida
    (+) the highway, a thread on which they are strung
    (+) the highway, a thread on which we are strung

    Like

    1. that Poultry Pox 🐓
      jumped right in
      after finding the hole 🕳️
      in my immune system
      and torn me a new one
      with neither working properly
      it’s no fun
      being hung out to dry
      with a burning scrotum
      thank goodness
      the thread I’m dangling from
      isn’t Highway Buggery
      as my bolt cutter has gone
      missing in reaction
      I always felt that young girls
      were my biggest weakness
      (as I just love their cuteness 💕)
      but never a suspicion
      that a common variety virus
      would try it’s poxiest to kill me

      Like

  26. ——————————————–Pat Sajak, self-betrayal, a man of last resort
    ——————————–Alex Trebek, self-betrayal, a man of last resort
    fragmented poetry, confessional, indulgent
    a load of manure surrounded by family
    who labor out the shiny material
    poetry about false outlines
    loyal, clock-appointed
    neither sought
    nor welcome
    (+) LIVING IN A STRANGE SWEETNESS, ENCOURAGED TO BE MORE SWEET

    Like

  27. the haunting revelations of grief’s fire
    Melville from his decaying core
    states that the scrotum
    must be placed
    outdoors
    to sun
    there on the laundry line
    a most prized possession
    neighbors battle the urge
    to whack it with a broom

    Like

    1. prompted to consciousness
      at pOETRY wORKSHOP
      the hot topic du jour
      VIOLENT LIBRARIANS
      (and what solvents to use)

      Let me go on
      Like a scrotum in the sun
      Let me go on
      Swollen glands
      They ain’t much fun
      When I’m out walking
      My strut just too tight
      For limping
      As I’m so strung out
      I’m high as a kite
      Nothing but dead flesh
      Left to check you out
      Come in a splash
      Bodily lubricants
      They stain my sheets
      Then gone in a flash
      I don’t even know why
      Lolita, she’s at the end
      Of a big time goodbye
      I just try to pretend
      As she is starting to cry
      That she’s more than a friend
      I should never
      have adopted her
      from a dead Viking

      Like

    2. Armenian peasants have flocked to the
      the site, atop of Mount Ararat, where
      an ancient FedEx box, along with what
      can only be described as a flying saucer,
      has been exposed from under the ice of
      a melting glacier. The Turkish authorities,
      who’ve been doing their best to keep the
      discovery under wraps, have put a stop
      to the construction of a temple to mark
      the spot using the pretext that it’s the
      crater of a volcano that at anytime could
      blow 🌋 Supposedly dormant for 10,000
      years, but Mount Arafat has recently
      been making signs of waking up. Much
      to the delight of the faithful, all dressed in
      bright purple and orange in celebration.
      A FedExorcism is a deliverance a millennium
      in the making. A sacred auspicious occasion.

      Like

  28. poetry stolen from an old copy of Farmer’s Almanac
    the taming of grief, turntable narcotics
    ———0———
    POETRY IS NOT THE EXPRESSION OF PERSONALITY
    DEAR BABY BIRD,
    POETRY IS THE ESCAPE FROM PERSONALITY
    ———0———
    supply me with an enormous bandage
    wrap me and stand me on the curb
    I shall offer advice and beg money
    my personal psychiatric services
    MultipleMichael, alert/excitable
    fluctuating tempos, chaos
    life is Dollar Store coloring
    expensive crayons
    on a background
    of toilet tissue

    Like

  29. the multiplicity of Michael
    he that dare shine occasionally
    relatives angry around the Christmas tree
    each with an overpowering sense of importance
    I say, “be courageous in the birdcage of loneliness”
    (+) I so much wanted the words to your erotic thoughts

    Like

  30. the Christmas tree
    brown at Easter sundown
    relatives with begging hands
    I am almost drawn into yielding
    ———0———
    ———0———
    in the grave standing up
    the giggling darkness
    drives one insane

    Like

  31. they say that most poetic efforts are stolen
    Placebo Cemetery with units available
    sleeping quarters lined up in a row
    countless generations/memories
    ———–0———–
    “A life of swallowing only to be swallowed”
    ———–0———–
    apes and more apes and Michael
    trying to connect with Death
    before concrete pillows

    Like

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