Tuesday 31 October 2017

Hammer & Sickle




Contemplate this, hole-and-corner, verdant valley
A place, if known, into which one might choose to sally
There's no rush hour mayhem, for there is no commuting
No law enforcement, no taxes and no genteel disputing
Here they forage and farm beyond the civilised clamour
Working hard the sickle and scythe, the saw and the hammer

It's a serene cloistered hamlet of sandstone houses
Where they all reside, them and their spouses
All rustic types who use the Hammer & Sickle
Reticent, mean and constantly fickle
There's a rusty red tractor, circa the sixties
Runs on red stolen from gypsies

There's chopped wood for the hearth in a teetering stack
And with an assortment of livestock, for nothing they lack
Amidst the trees of a wood some fish from a river
With packed lunches of sweetbreads and minced chicken liver

One has a baccy stained beard that's grime infested
And the weasel eyes of a man too often arrested
He pulls a bucket from a well and drinks the sullied water
In his outhouse squeals a pig who is ready for slaughter
He sharpens a cleaver and tightens his belt
Po-faced, but eager, to have the fatal cut dealt

There's a communal settlement down in the valley
Don't go there! It's a deadfall trap down a blind alley
Those who are there will harvest crops with razor sharp scythes
Contribute to the barn and take care of their wives
Some of them are farmers tending the wheat
But some of them are hunters gathering the meat

There's a distant voice heard on a walkie-talkie
From high on a hill someone has called in from a sortie
A gun is reloaded with buckshot in a cartridge
He'll be stalking today, but not the pheasant or the partridge
They'll need to stoke up a stove and put smoke through a stack
With fresh meat on the way for nothing they'll lack

There's an eerie cloistered hamlet of sandstone houses
Where they all reside, them and their spouses
All rustic types who enjoy the wield of an axe
With the comforting thuds of well delivered hacks
They pull a plough with the tractor, circa the sixties
They're self-sufficient and drink moonshine, meths and whiskeys

Baccy beard is back with hands grime infested
With his weasel eyes mean and far from dejected
He cleans off the gore and loosens his belt
Po-faced, but eager, to have another cut dealt

There's one road; one way in, no way out
Sometimes there'll be a scream or desperate shout
They farm and forage and live off the land
Their crops and their traps are all carefully planned
Amidst the trees of a wood some fish from a river
With packed lunches of sweetbreads and freshly minced liver

There's an unholy hamlet down in the valley
Don't go there! It's a deadfall trap down a blind alley
They've the axe and the scythe; Hammer & Sickle
They're reticent, mean and constantly fickle
They've a rusty red tractor and bones in the wood
Sometimes there's an aroma of roast pork borne on a scud

Monday 30 October 2017

The Unicorn

           
The Unicorn is abroad this night; tonight
In flight; in freefall; in dreams; always in dreams
We can all dream the dream of the Unicorn
We can all chase the dragon
Chase the dragon's fire... to escape... for a moment
To somewhere better beyond the smoke and mirrors
Beyond the carnage of God-fearing illusions
And the empyrean fields of man-made delusions

The Unicorn is in the free-fall of a fanciful flight
This night; tonight. In this reverie; always in dreams.
The innocent, benevolent, thundering charge of the Unicorn
Not borne on the dragon's fire; not born; never sired
We can all spill the caustic acid... to escape... forever
And drown in our dreams in the land of never never
Beyond the brutality of God-fearing illusions
And the self-righteous butchery found in man-made delusions

Sunday 29 October 2017

The Heavens



They preyed on the lambs and they granted no quarter
But now the wolves of the pack can only slaver for the slaughter
With crazed moonlit eyes they wander amongst the desolate barrows
With naught to stalk but a miasma of death enshrouded shadows

So they looked to The Heavens; the Moon and the stars
And they looked to the planets of Venus and Mars
How they howled and barked, till their breaths filled the air
But The Heavens are a legerdemain of ignorance and despair

They prayed for the lambs and sought solace from the warder
But The Heavens are empty and are the ultimate disorder
Ash and dust and scattered bones fill the death hallowed barrows
The shepherds were wolves and their fates were the gallows