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 
older women who wave the menopause flag
they stand guard, easy prey to the predators
emaciated children slow to flee
———0———
Michael Phelps selling swimsuits
“Swim Your Way Out of Misery”
not a perfect life, Brother
far from the ordinary
unhappiness
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Michael Phelps
God backed up the car on his face
connected to mental illness
flypaper whispers, crimes
prison or the loony bin
“He’s feeling strong”
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STRIFE
the graduate
at his final graduation
inducted into the Goldfish Club
when thrown a lifeline
whilst drowning
in an endless ocean
was it just a dream?
managing to outrun
a nuclear explosion
with fingers of fire
reaching out
consuming everything
to the right
and to the left
people disintegrating
into windblown ash
whole buildings disappearing
a sheltering wall
out of nothing but thin air
was my only protection
as the sea began to boil
before a hot cloud
of radiation
with not a single singed hair
I was somehow left standing
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the wife had many warm pockets
my hands were cold
I was ignorant
of bedbugs
surgery on a valentine
shocked by what I found inside
almost 100% loneliness and fatigue
I find a book about senior citizen divorce
show it to the wife and she offers a discount rate
marriage starts off from a great distance
no matter how hard you try to push it away
the pillow of reality inches closer to smother you
ONE CANNOT OUTRUN ENTROPY
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I have been replaced—the Beatles have a new drummer
the birthday boy with his single slice of cake
huff and puff, huff and puff
the candle ashamed
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LIFE
I was inducted
into the Caterpillar Club
whilst hanging on
by a silken thread
not so much by choice
. . . more by chance
whilst smoking a hookah pipe
within the cocoon
of my mushroom bed
call it chrysalis
or providence … if you must
I call it surviving the kiss
of Meta-Morpheus
by the grace of Jesus Christ
life savored at it’s very best
as from a golden chalice
after hanging half dead
by a silken thread
an existence most precarious
spinning within the vortex
of a drug-addled head
life can be short and sweet
or a slow motion curse
in a junkie’s paradise
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prescription drugs
and too much alcohol
have taken their toll
on my one time young padawan
and apprentice
my black market mouseketeer
he’s no longer looking
quite so young
having given up the practice
he’d turned to the dark side
even tried to hustle me
and do me wrong
after I’d handed him the master key
to a life of endless prosperity
for the courageous and the strong
but now he seeks my forgiveness
with words of repentance
and a heartfelt apology
having come off
the heavy duty
SSRI antidepressants
in a mental health facility
and having done
the seemingly impossible
the big opiate withdrawal
in some celebrity private hospital
he now seems much better
downright hospitable
possibly even … forgivable?
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THE STREAM PUSHES FORWARD
what possible crime: coloring the Easter eggs the wrong shade
——————-0——————-
bargaining as one does in times of crisis
talk of basic neural wiring
rabbinical exegesis
one drummer
to another
carry on
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my old boss
the pawn broker
was an under the counter
gun dealer
I just looked after
the honest side of business
the relatively harmless stuff
as the boss
slipped me plenty of cash
since I knew how
to keep my mouth shut
it was my first paying job
being a reckless youth
it seemed like a fun ride
amongst the mayhem
of a town forsaken
by the prophets
even by God himself
a wild side without end
dealing the spice
on the precipice of existence
till someone put a bullet
in the back of the boss’s head
then things got serious
and all hell broke loose
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my silver turned to gold
what was broken glass, diamonds
the spirit world delivered me married
THE WORLD OF ART 24/7
being flexible, I slept with Adam and Eve
circulating lust, acrylic and oil painting
smoking the weed, swallowing pills
Washington DC underground
such a wonderful place
for a struggle
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the Potomac River
such a dear sweet force
naked with witches at midnight
warm wandering water
the river complete
with flesh
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I asked them not to blur my wrongs
seemingly innocent affection
curled around male gender
tortured by the volume
of “unknown loss”
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all my talk of the Potomac River
complete with flesh
a moon dance
with the
ladies
we who find pleasure
in the shade of the Assyrian Bull
reenactments in the fierce moon glow
incestuous Adam crazy for his own flesh
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many-faceted multiples in a reasonable size
bouts with the Old Testament, escapes and escapades
“poor little Bob Dylan circling the states, dropping his eggs”
folk songs of courtship, divorce, never the cock size of L. Cohen
RELIGION REMOVED HIS SHEATHING
——————-0——————-
OLD MAN DYLAN
straw stuffed in shiny vinyl upholstery
impenetrable, the best of Bob unspooled
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children are taught to lose track of the truth
the best lies serve no purpose
the chaperone long dead
romance, too dry for sex
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medication takes the curve away
square cubes, mental, physical
a strong flashlight
to the darkness
inherent
to man
when asked about others speaking through you
speaking through you from the grave
sweet words condoning
hiring a stand-in
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the new me
with a bicycle chain
please don’t point me uphill
please, please, please, please
DON’T POINT ME UPHILL
loved ones are watching
and I am weak
exhausted
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Museum of Michael
Chevrolet Camaro Z/28
Ford Mustang Boss 302
Dodge Challenger R/T
a herd of trucks
motorcycles
MASSIVE CHROME BUMPERS
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Museum of David
Liquid Planetarium
Light-Years Forgotten
Specimens Endangered
Rebellious Extinction
Placebo Injection
Counterfeit Heaven
A Profit And Loss Religion
One Golden Phoenix
Accidents That Happen
Twice Dead Girlfriends
Forever Under Eighteen
A Puzzle Ball Of Ivory
Postcards From Death Valley
Season’s Greetings
Chemical Romance
Post-Modern Decadence
La Familia Graffiti
Children In A Trance
A Stolen Last Breath
The Levitation Heavy
A Still Life Of Living Death
Riding The Dragon
A ’57 Chevy
Spurs And Stirrups Rusting
Chains And Handcuffs Broken
THE SPIRIT RUSH ALMIGHTY
THAT’S LIFE IN ABUNDANCE
WITH THE GIFT OF TRUE FREEDOM
BEYOND A MUSEUM FORSAKEN
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living in a cloud of oxidation
sealants, adhesives, cheap vitamins
pinned down like a bug, no more roaming
your engine may be humming
but your get-up-and-go
Baby Bird, it is gone
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perhaps
they will arrest you
for the act or acts of love
THE FULL ACCOMPLISHMENT OF LOVE
bashful boy with bloom on his pecker head
new grown, new named, an impressive male gourd
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LOVE IS HARD TIME
JUDGEMENT IS FREE & EASY
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there is no history
without the Museum
and lesbian loaded libraries
family and friends are chimps
they cheat their dental upkeep
but remain faithful to poop tossing
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I call home
and everything is in an uproar
a neighbor dog pooped in a field
that is a distant 2 day walk away
the risk of stepping in it
the very thought
much too much
THIS WAS THE LAST TIME
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the adults were playing horseshoes
the children were pulling off butterfly wings
the adults were knee deep in genital exploring
the children were chewing
newly discovered bones
Sylvia Plath was soaking a bandana in death
she was freezing and a tad bit faint
pressed the cloth to her face
and said, “goodnight”
( MIDDLE FINGER TO ALL ANTHROPOLOGISTS )
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Sylvia Plath loved Placebo City
her dollhouse was near a Dollar Store
that sold discount Seconal——two for one
I’ve heard tales of mud and mulch in her crack
that cobblestones lined her vaginal walls
all I can say is that she was slippery
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Sylvia Plath brought vaudeville to her mental health regime
later when readers grew numb, she added some burlesque
sexualized performances, “look, I have titties and hips”
but doctor/patient intercourse was sadly lame
no different than neighborhood boys
high school automobile sex
where NO meant Yes
and orgasms
a joke
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can you imagine Sylvia Plath in the driver’s seat ?
“please don’t drive fast, please stay in your lane”
perfect white woman poking suicide
Placebo City was ground zero
homeless drama queens
cardboard folk singers
Dylan chickened out
you can smell
his behind
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1984 Poet Laureate: Stanley Kowalski
he was an ear of corn in a cornfield
Sylvia Plath
pulled back his husk
to reveal a handsome banana
it became her property
Queen of his penis
and scrotum
MIDNIIGHT DRUMS: delusional belief in inferiority
disempowerment, his gourd in her hands
how long before his poetic voice
would be crushed, destroyed
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this morning
Lolita
in her shortest dress
with the top unbuttoned
asks me
to drive her to school
as her car is in for a service
(as if that’s my problem)
I tell her to sit
in the back seat
so I can concentrate on driving
but she insists
on hopping in the front
whispering . . .
“I too could do
with a good servicing.”
that girl still hasn’t a clue
how to play nice
with a pussy all wet
warm and inviting
but eyes just like dry ice
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life above your keyboard
LIFE ABOVE YOUR KEYBOARD
one day tears
one day drool
perilous family circus acts
the thirst for adolescent eroticism
the guilt too heavy to maneuver
the guilt too heavy to swallow
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SHE MAKES NO DEMANDS
yet always ready
with a friendly suggestion
on how best to please her
Linda
my nightly
source of satisfaction
with the breasts
of a Greek goddess
Athena
or possibly Aphrodite
when put to the test
I’ll forgo all the rest
just to appease her
she makes no demands
yet her slightest wish
is my holy command
hook
line
and sinker
I’m caught in love’s fever
with my rod in her hands
she makes no demands
the voluptuous Linda
my plus sized lover
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displaced and in need of help
mom and I sleeping on concrete
cheerleader confessions in demand
he wasn’t my daddy but he could drive
my story released from unknown origin
HE WAS THE LION AND I WAS THE LAMB
freely bestowing affection
his mental pecker rock hard
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a night out
from the flop house
with a few
of my fellow residents
I’d just been paid
for a case of all seeing surveillance
(my silence comes for free
being a consummate professional)
the evening kicked off
with the dropping of some LSD
but everyone else
was hanging out
for a shot of top shelf heroin
that was in the offing
that’s when things
began to get interesting
having a pocket full of cash
I couldn’t resist the temptation
of investing
in some of that China white
soon after a quick sampling
I was comfortably unconscious
for the remainder of the night
a day later
I awoke from an epic eon
of psychedelic dreaming
feeling a millennium wiser
eyes blinded by flashing neon
a pocket loaded down with heroin
and all my hard earned cash gone
yet thanking heaven
for that squalid room
and finding myself
in my old stretcher bed
rather than out on the pavement
or even worse
lying in the cold gutter … dead
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THE BEATLES: you know my name, look up the number
psychological penetration or the real thing
——————-0——————-
standing in the rushing waters of regret
he tried to bandage
her small opening
it was leaking red
a weapon wound
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just enough daylight to trim the resting site
gnarled roots fashioned into a pillow
I remind myself that my friend
seems occupied elsewhere
just enough daylight
to quilt the forest floor
an effort to keep him warm
my friend who sleeps
through his
celebration
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TOURISTS
. . . . . Bo City Is the Place To Be!
Since the recent Placebo Town tourism
campaign, the residents now fondly refer
to it as Blo City. The place has gotten too big
and dirty to be mistaken for some small town
even the home town basketball team
has had a name change ~ THE BLO INS
TOURISTS
“Looking for some snow?
Something to take the edge off
your jagged little existence?
You’ll find it in Blo City!”
TOURISTS – Please Remember,
every time you come to Blo City
you leave a deposit in our hearts 💰
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told my friend that good error dynamics arise
whispering on the pillow late at night
sometimes dealing with them
less fluently than anticipated
PLACEBO, so unpredictable
with its Dollar Stores
and smiles from
a Reader’s
Digest
some loving events and sexual situations
can strike us as way more pleasant
and fulfilling than others
life-enhancing
exploration
(+) mother apes and wives take note of error dynamics
no challenge goes unchecked
inward-facing errors
outward straying
poets dream of “plenty-novel-enough”
greater than expected amounts of pleasure
simple curiosity without shame or poop tossing
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The Tempest Of Time
human crayons 🖍️
smeared across the pavements
of Placebo Town
multicolored pigments
walking figments
of some collective imagination
blurred in the rain
washed away in a hurricane
the storm that remains
The Tempest Of Time
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sleep is a screen door
whisper through it
———0———
painted into a dark corner, sensual fulfillment
thoughtless self-regard, youthful wet serpents
squirm before the Devil, free of any root system
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savages
dancing around a fire
crazy thoughts
chained to a serpentine staff
what next I thought
whispering through a screen door
———0———
the art of the daydream/penis in hand
lyrics about choices made
notions of conscience
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it was all water
somewhere, some moment in time
Noah, inflated like a large toad, gave birth
Noah, Adam in modern pants, modern tongue
it was all water
the sum total of God
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they say that it was Jesus
who made the dive
to bring up
a fist of
soil
showing it to the sky
with a prayer to Father
the Earth returned whole
Noah gave birth for a week
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(+) paintings of Jesus standing on top of Noah inflated
holding the reins, guiding the male source of all we know
(+) having survived the Flood
the strangeness of dry land
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the water comes ashore
full heads/empty heads
deceptive/destructive
say what you will
about the
motion
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the head doctor
recommends that patients
float in their boundlessness
but never leave sight of shore
never, never leave sight of shore
———0———
gender
on the open waters
a tight drum, virginal
(+) motion leaving/motion returning
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at first, the Stones sing “it is just a shot away”
later, “it is just a kiss away”
large lips appear on stage
Mick manhandles them
Passion or Birth ?
Ishmael Jagger
“escaped alone to tell thee”
voyage-centered rock and roll
swarms of color, rainbow waves
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mannish lesbians stocking the shelves
(+) with volumes of sex starved sailors
willing to exchange favors
(+) with volumes of female prisoners
desperate to extinguish their desires
WHITE MASCULINITY
no fluttering of the hands
no fussing over circumstances
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survival on the frontier
women and children bear the blunt
first, the lesser daughters are left behind
more tender and endearing daughters are safe
—————————————reality switched the flashlight on
there in the darkness, the wife and number one milk cow making an escape
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Central Plaza – Placebo Town
is a mental health facility
SQUARE PEGS IN A ROUND HOLE
situated in a Walmart car park
the cullings take place
in the hanging gardens
every Tuesday and Friday night
the action all happens in the dark
so night vision is essential
and can be purchased onsite
at prices more than reasonable
warfare and destruction
even a presidential election
nothing but a distraction
from the main game
the ongoing fight
between wrong and right
upon this long and winding road
to Tribal Armageddon
so come and join in the fun
Central Plaza – Placebo Town
where survival is out of the question
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mental health
there to amuse the reader
entertaining YES, instructive NO
(+) apes ripping the shells off turtles
the price tag for turtle sympathy goes unpaid
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a breach of duty urged by way of apology for another breach of duty
Noah swallowed the world one time and never mentioned it again
mental health repeatedly knocks on the door, cherished or not
visits and sentiments that have no grasp on circumstances
incidents grow out of each other, a motive for every act
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APES PULLING THE SHELLS OFF TURTLES
———“doing them a favor”———
mental health with its crusty butt
rubbing itself on white carpet
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(+) was anyone surprised at how Noah was rewarded ?
swallowing the entire world must leave a bad taste in the mouth
———0———
catering nude for the amusement of a child
———0———
two events in your life:
swallow the world
sexual misconduct with a son
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A FRACTIONAL PORTION OF THE WHOLE
men rolling dice trying to win a likeness of themselves
lesbian librarians throwing bones for something much better
flirtations that end in bed
flirtations that end in bed
flirtations that end in bed
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it is impossible to paint the commonplace in Placebo
poetry that is fiction never seems false
when despair leaks hope
Robert Frost is there
to document it
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MENTAL HEALTH IS A MOTORCYCLE WITH TWO FLAT TIRES
most people discard the motorcycle
and learn to navigate other means
———0———
the imperfect jungle
good manners and decency
so many open the door to damnation
sugarcoated scriptural nonsense
leather bound Reader’s Digest
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countless people stare across the water
TO LIVE IN PLACEBO
where dreams come true
spider web cotton socks galore
(Yes, the truth is mixed with paltry fables)
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the ritual of blowing out the candles on a birthday cake
top 3 wishes:
eternal youth
irresistible beauty
inexhaustible wealth
the potency of evil can bend more than spoons
crimes of the stiff pecker/sexual mischief
endless paths open to pleasure
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how can any Placebian
(a resident of Placebo Town)
ever hope to repent of their sin?
who could they ever confess to
without sounding like they’re boasting?
I guess it’s just a Placebo Town thing
a mystery wrapped inside a conundrum
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confess without boasting
legs without feet
the same pair
of jeans
on the
wife
for
months and months
she thinks that I don’t know
except there is a tiny stain visible
every day I say “Hello” to that location
thankful that I am not Jim at the Morrison
thankful that the soil explodes with nutrition
a constant request for gender reprogramming
slaughter today, easy and safe
menfolk desperate to master nature
the onset of estrus, playground fierce
the Honeymoon Hotel constantly booked
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some demonic self
HAUNTED BY SOME DEMONIC SELF
an agent of the devil
countless road signs
“Myth Psychologized”
HAUNTED WITH IMPURE IMAGINATION
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NO ONE NEED TELL YOU HOW DANGEROUS: one drop of impure imagination
ten times more, a special agent of the other side
ten times more, extraordinary productivity
chronological sequence out the window
say hello to obsessive variations
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they brought in a tray of old-fashioned eyes
which were immediately thrown to the curb
mechanical reproduction, the new wave
PICASSO
his army of roaches
they are everywhere
busy consuming the past
destroying everything known
we live in a world
three arms, three legs
portraits shattered like glass
glued back together in the dark
families without leadership, discipline
apes running wild, rapid-fire misconduct
no more rigorous demand for anything HOLY
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Placebo Town plebeians
. . . placebians
slaves to the machine
of a hive control system
according to ancestry.com
neanderthal to the core
and the descendants
of some other lesser
Babylonian whore
with the inability to hear
freedom knocking at the door
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slaves to the machine
turds drop in the open fields
in Russia they flirt with a plague
the plague of suffocating darkness
Russians have cleared a path for Anger
suffering—— suffering with no explanation
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