Dying alone
in this kingdom
by the sea,
watching stars
going out...

In the restless waves,
In the shimmering blue...

My eyes are closed,
my heart has gone silent,
But a song will travel
upon a wind of memories
across the sea...

he plays it cool
cool*
cool
cool
so cool

cause he's got
a cogent tool
it can buy him
the desired pool

his money has sway
sway
sway
sway
lots of sway

when it's forked out
everything goes his way
there's a whip-hand
in this style of pay

he plays it cool
cool
cool
cool
so cool  
he plays it cool
cool
cool
cool
so cool

he's not averse to a
huge cash
drop
them inducements
put him right
*on top

Red blemishes appear,
And they fester and burst.
Crawling fast, they tear.

No one screams.
No one remembers they hurt.

The skin turns dead --
Flesh black not red --
Bodies becoming dirt.

In the distance is heard
One last choke,
One last word,
Mumbled through the smoke.

Ash rains down.
In this blood they will drown.

And a small voice mutters
                                                 "don't".

I hope I wouldn't smash my thumb
or throw it

through the picture window, like my neighbor did,
just yesterday,

while I was mowing my grass
which is yet half high

because I had to watch while the police arrested
my hammer heaving pal

who hates his unfaithful wife, his yapping Chihuahua,
and his life;

the spouse and spunky canine
are just fine it seems,

fortunate there was glass to shatter
on a Saturday afternoon

I see his pick up in the yard--the grass is dead
from the heat anyway

he is nowhere to be found, except
passed out on the seat

with one of his feet touching the turf
the other still in the truck

afraid if it joins its partner on solid soil
it won't be a happy marriage

he is my child--all quarter century of him
and he won't bring in the paper

I am sure he rolled his truck on top of it...to protect me
from the news of an awful world

Life's not so bad
until just before morning
when I see a dark man
driving a black Cadillac
take a cigarette from his lips
and throw it out the window
watching it go all to pieces
all over the road.