Pure Heroin

That driving heat
radiating off Wall Street,
an insatiable power lust
where total control is a must.
But it isn’t just the money, honey
that wets your appetite
with pretty maids all in a row.
Like the lines of blow that flow
up your nose
from way down below.

Where the Chairman
is an alpha predator
for the pay day lenders.
Where the board of directors
are celebrity tax avoiders,
and lobbyists
for the armaments industry.
Pimps and lawyers
navigating stormy waters,
whilst paying off politicians
and hookers.
Resplendent
in their pinstripe suits
sewn from the bones
of credit card corpses.
Wheeling the thrill
of a killer deal
with embezzled funds,
courtesy of some dictator’s son.
The blood and poverty of many
… their kingdom come.

The silver spoon
and a crystal pill,
that ecstasy of kleptocracy.
Snorting one
whist popping the other.
Plugging can be such fun
in a private stall.
Close to the orchestra,
for a gala screening
of ‘Triumph of the Will’.
A proud brotherhood
in the audience,
itching to kill.
A Helter Skelter
that Charles Manson
could’ve only dreamt of.
A carnivorous carnival,
starring Victorious Capitalist,
for perhaps
a final performance?
Accompanied by the Four Tenors
on Horseback.
The hounds of hell
hot on his heels.
A foretaste of oblivion
in the hallowed halls
of Golden Tower Man.

Far from Eden’s garden
a captive population
harvesting the poppies
of globalised greed.
Mainlining corruption,
and senseless destruction,
from the Mother of All Poison.
What could possibly be the harm?
Like a petrochemical
hot shot in the arm.
That fossil fuel is always cool,
and good for big business.
Just gotta ignore the Big Warm.
Or how about some disinfectant?
Thanks for that suggestion!
Papaver Somniferum
Junkies all
by acquiescence.
Have we become
this planet’s
pure heroin?

I’m not talkin’ revolution.
I’m talkin’ righteousness,
with a touch of reverence.
But then again, I guess,
that would be a revolution.

Words & Image;
David B. Redpath © 2019-2020

“The Lord has told you, human,
what is good. He has told you what
He wants from you:
To do what is right to other people,
love being kind to others, and live humbly, obeying your God.”

~ Book of Micah

128 thoughts on “Pure Heroin”

      1. You are welcome, David
        Your verse fabulous sacred
        Looking for a cure?
        Till then, please endure
        I hope you find
        What you have in mind
        That makes your heart happy
        And put that zing back into the 😴 nappy

        Liked by 2 people

      5. You burning the candle on both ends, David??
        Being on cloud nine all the time ain’t stupid
        Dream away, David cus your a dreamer
        Of poetic verses, you are a weaver.

        Liked by 2 people

      6. I must be, Yassy. For I’m living Down Under,
        but I was writing in a New York state of mind.
        I only get away with that as I was conceived
        on Long Island. But that’s another bedtime story.

        Liked by 1 person

      7. I love your bed time stories,
        These tales of Down Under glories
        Your state of mind fascinates
        About your conception, google debates
        Catch you soon, mister
        Hehe , bravo , Long Island Hipster 😎🌝

        Liked by 2 people

  3. Pingback: Pure Heroin — David Redpath – Vin de Vie Wine of Life

  4. Thanks for this, David. Solstice Day.
    There are those who believe that the North American way of being contains within itself the mechanism of its own self-correction and that the Millenial vanguard has arrived. But this corruption is everywhere now and we begin to think that the only force powerful enough to force a change are the workings of the natural order itself seeking always it’s own equilibrium.
    Thank you for witnessing, David. Thank you for witnessing. Thank you for witnessing.
    Sarah

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

    1. Exactly … I couldn’t agree more. Yet . . .
      the inflation has only a momentary duration.
      Most of the time, the junkie has perhaps an
      even greater awareness of their broken, and
      fallen state.
      Whereas the perpetually straight often think
      they’re doing just great.
      But that’s a subject my humble little post
      was not exactly about 😎

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. There’s a boat sailing today 🌬️⛵
      off into the mystic ✨💫
      With Van Morrison as the
      on board entertainment, Katy.
      So everything will be hunky dory.
      With a special guest appearance
      by Major Tom, a.k.a. David Bowie 😎

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      8. “Well, they’ll stone you when
        you’re trying to be so good
        They’ll stone you just like
        they said they would
        They’ll stone you when
        you’re trying to go home
        And they’ll stone you when
        you’re there all alone.”
        ~ The Poet Laureate of Rock ‘n’ Roll

        Liked by 1 person

      17. Suppose you really knew
        What’s it all about
        And someone you thought you knew
        He asked you out
        I’m not easy I know
        Gravity talks
        (Is there any sense in these lyrics I wonder)

        Liked by 2 people

      18. There’s a meaning there . . .
        It’s all in the ear of the listener.
        A creative passageway to ponder.
        Like good art that creates a personal
        connection with the viewer.
        The artist creates, captures and releases
        . . . into the cosmos.
        Nothing more uncomfortable than when
        an artist is asked to explain his work.
        Unless, of course, they can speak fluent
        abstract hyperrealism.
        The first line takes you immediately to an alternative reality, for who really knows
        . . . what it’s all about?

        “There’s a meaning there
        But the meaning there doesn’t
        really mean a thing
        Come and see the real thing
        I am the real, thing
        Trying hard to understand that,
        really not, you’re seeing me.”
        ~ The Real Thing

        Liked by 1 person

    1. Yes, Victoria. And Victoria is the State I’m in.
      That’s down under in Australia. My two
      sisters are U.S. citizens. My two brothers
      are Aussies. As a World citizen I seem to
      be stuck in the middle 😎
      I am the Garbage man for an exploding
      family. The West has become addicted to
      all things plastic. We’ve induced the
      “Developing World” to get hooked on our
      industrialized habit. Now the momentum
      of globalisation is running out of steam …
      who’s going to choose to clean up the mess?

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. I’d like to be worldly like you. I’m stuck in the US.

        I can’t stand all this plastic. If we went back to paper supplies, we’d only kill the trees. Glass is wonderful (milkmen) but, that industry was sidelined.

        Plastic garbage everywhere. And, they *told* us they were *recycling* it, as in *reusing*. They actually meant recycling it somewhere else. How did we get here, anyway?

        Aren’t there plastic eating bacteria somewhere?

        Liked by 2 people

      2. Wherever you go in the world now
        there are mountains of discarded plastic.
        Go to the top of the Himalayas, and there
        it is. Apart from the human poverty, it is
        the most heartbreaking thing when you
        are on the wing. Once a tropical paradise,
        where now the rivers choked with used water bottles, and the beaches covered
        in washed up garbage 💔
        Plastic consuming lifeforms? Hopefully
        the next phase of life’s capacity to adapt.

        Liked by 1 person

      1. “Junkies all by acquiescence” I am appreciative you overcame your ‘fear and trepidation’ this piece is so poignant as well as hard hitting. On so many levels it exposes the ‘human’ problem the ‘us and them’ that in the end is only ‘us’ and allows us to watch the ‘carnivorous carnival’ from a distance while we as a species “mainline corruption and senseless destruction” this was indeed an inspired piece…… We all need to overcome any fear and trepidation we are feeling
        And do “what we can, where we are, with what we have”🙏🏻

        Liked by 2 people

      2. From my southern Antipodean location,
        to somewhere on the coastal western,
        much gratitude and appreciation 💐 😎
        Yes, by default, we are all shareholders
        in an industialised assault on creation.
        Time to attend the next shareholders
        meeting and take a vote to revolt against
        a system that is beyond all hope ✌️

        Liked by 1 person

    1. T***KING you, exceedingly !😎

      For you, a quote from guess who;

      “Johnny’s in the basement
      Mixing up the medicine
      I’m on the pavement
      Thinking about the government
      Oh, get born, keep warm
      Short pants, romance
      Learn to dance, get dressed, get blessed
      Try to be a success
      Please her, please him, buy gifts
      Don’t steal, don’t lift
      Twenty years of schoolin’
      And they put you on the day shift
      Look out kid
      They keep it all hid
      Better jump down a manhole
      Light yourself a candle
      Don’t wear sandals
      Try to avoid the scandals
      Don’t want to be a bum
      You better chew gum
      The pump don’t work
      ‘Cause the vandals took the handles”
      ~ Subterranean Homesick Blues

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  19. “Poppies of Globalised Greed” is my new band name.
    …but don’t ask me what that means.
    It keeps your kid quiet for six and a half minutes, who cares if that Happy Meal
    toy ends up lodged in a sea turtles belly?
    (…Skyhooks!)

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

    1. Poppies of flowering beauty,
      and nature’s herbal bounty,
      being milked and adulterated
      for exploitation and profit.
      Much like this whole planet.
      As Mc Donald’s does the catering
      at the kid’s party of total excess
      Globalisation is failing
      but I wish you all the success
      with your band … Is it Heavy Metal,
      or something more gentle?
      As long as it ain’t Heavy Plastic!?

      Skyhooks were a top Aussie band 🇹🇦
      from the ’70’s. A bit Glam Rock and a bit
      Roxy, of whom I have many fond memories.

      Thanks for trying a taste of my post 😎

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      1. “Skyhooks were a top Aussie band”
        Indeed! I was tickled to see the quote in another comment.
        PoGG gives a nod to the Arch-Drude.

        Liked by 2 people

      2. I got to see Skyhooks live a couple of times.
        Once very early in their career at a suburban
        gig. They were just starting to toy with the
        whole glam rock thing. I then saw them years
        later, after failing to crack the American
        market for being “too commercial”. It was
        a surprise appearance, and their first gig
        back in Australia, at the Reefer’s Cabaret in Greville Street, Prahran. I too had felt they
        were too ‘Countdown’ commercial. But,
        unexpectedly, it turned out to be one of
        the best Rock performances I can kind of
        remember witnessing 😎 They were at the
        total peak of their musical craft. All dressed in black leather, and all gimmicks out the window.

        Arch-Drude, a.k.a. Droolian, Lord Yatesbury, Rabbi Joseph Gordon, Hugo De Klee, etc, etc.
        Are the police after him or something?

        Like

  22. Wonderful lines – “far from the eden garden harvesting the poppies of globalised greed mainlining corruption senseless destruction from the mother of poison what could be the harm…”.
    An important point of thought. Heart touching,
    dear David!! It is a curse of youth and all countries. You have put up a serious topic.
    Well done, dear!!

    Liked by 6 people

    Reply

    1. Thank you, Aruna💛
      I’m a lover, not a fighter
      … as you know 😎
      But sometimes the words
      of blood mixed with tears
      have gotta flow.

      Oh, where have you been,
      my blue-eyed son?
      Oh, where have you been,
      my darling young one?
      I’ve stumbled on the side
      of twelve misty mountains
      I’ve walked and I’ve crawled
      on six crooked highways
      I’ve stepped in the middle
      of seven sad forests
      I’ve been out in front
      of a dozen dead oceans
      I’ve been ten thousand miles
      in the mouth of a graveyard
      And it’s a hard, and it’s a hard,
      it’s a hard, and it’s a hard
      And it’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall.”
      ~ Bob Dylan

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. From the the bottom of my Goldman Sachs,
      thank you very much Chris 🙏😎💲
      Yes, consumer credit has kept the global
      economy afloat. And for many, it wouldn’t
      be Christmas without a high interest loan
      from City Bank 🏦

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  28. Hi David,

    Thanks for writing this. We have a hard wire problem and you can see it, while others go about their business. How will all this end? Don’t know, but I’m pretty sick of everything right now. It’s as if the days and nights are the jaws of a vice with our heads squeezed inside. Hard to think and sleep. Your poem gets it right, with some very nice phrasing. Thanks again. Duke

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

    1. Greatly appreciated, Duke 🙏

      “Que será, será
      Whatever will be, will be.”
      That’s what Doris Day said to me.
      But to wake up from a bad dream
      it helps to rage against the machine
      The proof
      is that only truth
      can truly set us free 😎

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

  33. Dearest David, I fear we have become this planet’s pure heroin, history’s bias and a legacy of untruths. May God’s will prevail in the days to come. Excellent as always. Wishing you and yours well. ~ Mia 💖

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Wonderful to hear from you, Mia.
      I was hoping it would be raining
      blessings for you in California,
      including some actual rain 🌧️ ☔
      I have faith that Truth is the
      antidote for all this world’s ills.
      But it may be some time before
      the Big Cure prevails over a chaotic
      riot of viral symptoms 🙏❤️

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Likewise, David. Thank you, your words have brought a smile to my face. No rain yet, we are in the middle of another heat wave, the fires have been heartbreaking. The Big Cure will prevail, and I welcome it. 💖

        Liked by 1 person

  37. There is no pure heroin. Heroin is dead. Long live smack. It’s the reign of Prince Fent…the new ruler is worse than the old ones. The Earth should keep her old habit, it is at least a blast…there is at least some euphoria amongst the dead flowers.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

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