The Family and the Fishing Net


     Suffocated by mirrors, stained by dreams
     Her honey belly pulls the seams
     Curves are still upon the hinge
     Pale zeros tinge the tiger skin

     Moist as grass, ripe and heavy as the night
     The sponge is full, well out of sight
     All around the conversations
     Icing on the warm flesh cake

     Light creeps through her secret tunnels
     Sucked into the open spaces
     Burning out in sudden flashes
     Draining blood from well-fed faces

     Desires form in subtle whispers
     Flex the muscles in denial
     Up and down its pristine cage
     So the music, so the trial

     Vows of sacrifice, headless chickens
     Dance in circles, they the blessed
     Man and wife, undressed by all
     Their grafted trunks in heat possessed

     Even as the soft skins tingle
     They mingle with the homeless mother
     Who loves the day but lives another
     That once was hers

     The worried father, long lost lover
     Brushes ashes with his broom
     Rehearses jokes to fly and hover
     Bursting over the bride and groom

     And the talk goes on

     Memories crash on tireless waves
     The lifeguards whom the winter saves

     Silence falls the guillotine
     All the doors are shut
     Nervous hands grip tight the knife
     In the darkness, till the cake is cut
     Passed around, in little pieces
     The body and the flesh
     The family and the fishing-net
     And another in the mesh

     The body and the flesh

Shock the Monkey


Shock the monkey to life
Shock the monkey to life

Cover me when I run
Cover me through the fire
Something knocked me out' the trees
Now I'm on my knees
Cover me, darling please
Monkey, monkey, monkey
Don't you know when you're going to shock the monkey

Fox the fox
Rat the rat
You can ape the ape
I know about that
There is one thing you must be sure of
I can't take any more
Darling, don't you monkey with the monkey
Monkey, monkey, monkey
Don't you know you're going to shock the monkey

     Wheels keep turning
     Something's burning
     Don't like it but I guess I'm learning

Shock! - watch the monkey get hurt, monkey

Cover me, when I sleep
Cover me, when I breathe
You throw your pearls before the swine
Make the monkey blind
Cover me, darling please
Monkey, monkey, monkey
Don't you know you're going to shock the monkey

     Too much at stake
     Ground beneath me shake
     And the news is breaking

Shock! - watch the monkey get hurt, monkey

Shock the monkey
Shock the monkey
Shock the monkey to life

Lay Your Hands on Me


Sat in the corner of the Garden Grill, with plastic flowers
on the window sil
No more miracles, loaves and fishes, been so busy with the
washing of the dishes
Reaction level's much too high - I can do without the stimuli

I'm living way beyond my ways and means, living in the
zone of the inbetweens
I can see the flashes on the frozen ocean, static charge of
the cold emotion
Watched on by the distant eyes - watched on by the silent
hidden spies

     But still the warmth flows through me
     And I sense you know me well
     No luck, no golden chances
     No mitigating circumstances now
     It's only common sense
     There are no accidents around here

     I am willing - lay your hands on me
     I am ready - lay your hands on me
     I believe - lay your hands on me, over me

Working in gardens, thornless roses, fat men play with their
garden hoses
Poolside laughter has a cynical bite, sausage speared by the
cocktail satellite
I walk away from from light and sound, down stairways
leading underground

     But still the warmth flows through me
     And I sense you know me well
     It's only common sense
     There are no accidents around here

     I am willing - lay your hands on me
     I am ready - lay your hands on me
     I believe - lay your hands on me, over me
     over me

     Lay your hands on me
     Lay your hands on me
     Lay your hands on me, over me

Wallflower


6x6 - from wall to wall
Shutters on the windows, no light at all
Damp on the floor you got damp on the bed
They're trying to get you crazy - get you out of your head
They feed you scraps and they feed you lies
To lower your defences, no compromise
Nothing you can do, they day can be long
You mind is working overtime, you body's not too strong

Hold on, hold on
They put you in a box so you can't get heard
Let your spirit stay unbroken, may you not be deterred

     Hold on, you have gambled with your own life
     And you face the night alone
     While the builders of the cages
     They sleep with bullets, bars and stone
     They do not see your road to freedom
     That you build with flesh and bone

They take you out - the light burns your eyes
To the talking room - it's not surprise
Loaded questions from clean white coats
Their eyes are all as hidden as their Hipppcratic Oath
They tell you - how to behave, hehave as their guest
You want to resist them, you do your best
They take you to your limits, they take you beyond
For all that they are doing there's no way to respond

Hold on, hold on
They put you in a box so you can't get heard
Let your spirit stay unbroken, may you not be deterred

     Hold on, you have gambled with your own life
     And you face the night alone
     While the builders of the cages
     They sleep with bullets, bars and stone
     They do not see your road to freedom
     That you build with flesh and bone

Though you may disappear, you're not forgotten here
And I will say to you, I will do what I can do

You may disappear, you're not forgotten here
And I will say you you, I will do what I can do
And I will do what I can do
And I will do what I can do

Kiss of Life


     See me a big woman, big woman look how you dance
     See me a big woman, big woman caught in a trance

Dancing on the tabletop, covered up with the Easter feast
You're dancing for the fishermen, from the very large right
to the least
Dancing for the slow release, first the boy and then the beast
Then the beast

     Burning, buring with the kiss of life
     Burning, buring with the kiss of life

     See me, a big woman, big woman so full of life
     See me, a big woman, big woman going to be my wife

Watching for the different eyes - they change your face -
they come inside
Watch the spirits laugh and cry, watch them find a place
to hide
Watch the spirits talk in tongues, watch them take you for
a ride

Down at the ocean lies a body in the sand
Big woman sits beside, head in hand
With heat from her skin, and fire from her breath
She blows hard, she slows deep in the mouth of death

     Burning, burning with the kiss of life
     Burning, burning with the kiss of life
     Burning, burning with the kiss of life

That Voice Again


I want to be with you
I want to be clear
but each time I try
it's the voice I hear
I hear that voice again

I'm listening to the conversation
judge and jury in my head
it's colouring everything
all we did and said
and still I head that sharp tongue talking
talking tangled words
I can sense the danger
just listen to the wind

I want you close I want you near
I can't help but listen
but I don't want to hear
hear that voice again

I want to be with you
I want to be clear
but each time I try
it's the voice I hear
I hear that voice again

I'm hearing right and wrong so clearly
there must be more than this
it's only in uncertainty
that we're naked and alive
I hear it through the rattle of a streetcar
hear it through the things you said
I can get so scared
listen to the wind

I want you close I want you near
I can't help but listen
but I don't want to hear
hear that voice again

what I carry in my heart
brings us so close or so far apart
only love can make love

I want you close I want you near
I can't help but listen
but I don't want to hear
I hear that voice again

I want to be with you
I want to be clear
but each time I try
it's the voice I hear
I hear that voice again

Mercy Street


for anne sexton

looking down on empty streets, all she can see
are the dreams all made solid
are the dreams all made real

all of the buildings, all of those cars
were once just a dream
in somebody's head

she pictures the broken glass, she pictures the steam
she pictures a soul
with no leak at the seam

lets take the boat out
wait until darkness
let's take the boat out
wait until darkness comes

nowhere in the corridors of pale green and grey
nowhere in the suburbs
in the cold light of day

there in the midst of it so alive and alone
words support like bone

dreaming of mercy st.
wear your inside out
dreaming of mercy
in your daddy('s arms again
dreaming of mercy st.
'swear they moved that sign
dreaming of mercy
in your daddy's arms

pulling out the papers from the drawers that slide smooth
tugging at the darkness, word upon word

confessing all the secret things in the warm velvet box
to the priest-he's the doctor
he can handle the shocks

dreaming of the tenderness-the tremble in the hips
of kissing Mary's lips

dreaming of mercy st.
wear your insides out
dreaming of mercy
in your daddy's arms again
dreaming of mercy st.
'swear they moved that sign
looking for mercy
in your daddy's arms

mercy, mercy, looking for mercy
mercy, mercy, looking for mercy

Anne, with her father is out in the boat
riding the water
riding the waves on the sea

Big Time


suc cess

I'm on my way, I'm making it
I've giot to make it show, yeah
so much larger than life
I'M going to watch it growing

the place where I come from is a small town
they think so small
they use small words
-but not me
I'm smarter than that
I worked it out
I've been stretching my mouth
to let those big words come right out

I've had enough, I'm getting out
to the city, the big big city
I'll be a big noise with all the big boys
there's so much stuff I will own
and I will pray to a big god
as I kneel in the big church

big time
I'm on my way-I'm making it
big time  big time
I've got to make it show yeah
big time  big time
so much larger than life
big time
I'm going to watch it growing
big time

my parties all have big names
and I greet them with the widest smile
tell them how my life is one big adventure^
and always they're amazed
when I show them round my house, to my bed
I had it made like a mountain range
with a snow-white pillow for my big fat head
and my heaven will be a big heaven
and I will walk through the front door

big time
I'm on my way-I'm making it
big time  big time
I've got to make it show-yeah
big time  big time
so much larger than life
I'm going to watch it growing
big time  big time
my car is getting bigger
big time
my house is getting bigger
big time
my eyes are getting bigger
big time
and my mouth
big time
my belly is getting bigger
big time
and my bank account
big time
look at my circumstance
big time
and the bulge in my big big big big big big big

We Do What We're Told


milgram's 37

we do what we're told
we do what we're told
we do what we're told
told to do

we do what we're told
we do what we're told
we do what we're told
told to do

one doubt
one voice
one war
one truth
one dream

This is the Picture


excellent birds

flying birds
excellent birds
watch them fly, there they go
falling snow
excellent snow
here it comes. watch it fall

long words
excellent words
I can hear them now

this is the picture, this is the picture
this is the picture, this is the picture

I'm sitting by the window
watching the snow fall
I'm looking out
and I'm moving, turning in time
catching up. moving in
jump up! I can land on my feet. look out!

this is the picture, this is the picture
this is the picture, this is the picture

looking out. watching out
when I see the future I close my eyes
I can see it now

I see pictures of people, rising up
pictures of people, falling down
I see pictures of people
they're standing on their heads, they're ready
they're looking out, look out!
they're watching out, watch out!
they're looking out, look out!
they're watching out, watch out!

I see pictures of people
I see pictures of people