serve and protect

they sent me here to give my thoughts on SB1070
looking at the crowd, I bet you’re gonna be mad at me
but I promise everything I do is to serve and protect
even melting down the cross to wrap around your neck
it’s for the greater glory of the red white and blue
it’s for the greater good of each and every one of you

Now, I’ve heard ‘em cry that no humano es ilegal
but you’ve nothing to fear unless you’re a crim-i-nal
I promise, I understand your struggles and your troubles
stringing stones together to build life out of rubble
you want to come to the land of opportunity to succeed
so you can get a job and fill the mouths you gotta feed
but if you really want to prosper on our side of the border
I don’t think it’s strange that you submit to law and order
we’ve got this beautiful rhythm to our system
all these legal ways but instead you chose to miss ‘em
to duck through the desert in the dark of night
to break in, to trespass, to ignore what’s legal and right
so, of course it’s one of my deepest happiest desires
to build a reinforced concrete wall with razor wires
one full of spots where the guards stick guns out of slots
because they believe in the beauty of preemptive shots
give me your sick, your poor, and your huddled masses?
fuck that, we’ll send you back out on your sorry asses
none of this is fine print to be read with glasses
it’s a front page fuck you from all of our classes
Lady Liberty’s old news, we’re sick of a raging sewer
streaming in, liberty is for a country with fewer
people to keep in line, so thank God for Jan Brewer
go ahead and whine, the truth about the bill
was clear majority support, it was the people’s will
we just chose to speak through our movers and shakers
we see no problem with making people carry their papers
because you’re right, no humano es ilegal
you’ve only got something to fear if you’re a crim-i-nal

because everything that I do is to serve and protect
even when I melt down the cross to wrap around your neck
it’s all to protect the red white and blue
it’s all to protect each and every one of you

so these papers, they’re just another step
another clue to what we’ll come up with next
soon the mall entrance will have retinal scans
the better, my dear, to keep you in safe hands
the better to identify everyone, to know who’s where when
the better to keep track of the disease of men
the better to bring about greater peace and prosperity
if you don’t believe me let me bring clarity
there is absolutely nothing to be afraid of, see
only the bad, the naughty, the evil
need to fear laws that protect the people
like only those on steroids worry about Bud Siegel
like only the damned hate the sight of the steeple
if you’re a real American with nothing to hide
you know there’s right from wrong, and about picking sides
you’ll have no problem when we can just look in your mind
when we don’t need to ask questions to try and find
out whether or not you slipped up and crossed the line
we won’t even need to use pain or force to make you scream
we’ll just watch you sleep, and follow you in your dreams
you won’t have a problem with us invading your privacy
if a good American is all you’re ever trying to be
democracy and dignity are not necessarily synonymous
giving everyone freedom and voice is a little ominous
do you really think we’ll ever find the answer to cancer
if freedom keeps the beat for dissension’s dancers?
no, so it’s best to kill the commies greens and Panthers
diversity and thought are fine, but peace and harmony are sublime so quit your crying, salute the flag and get in line

because everything we do is to serve and protect
even if you find our hands wrapped around your neck
it’s all to protect the glory of the red white and blue
it’s all for the greater good of each and every one of you

and I know that peace and order rule your desires
so you’re surprisingly comfortable with limits and wires
Patrick Henry once screamed out, liberty or death
and the people cried back for his dying breath
the ACLU likes to pretend that things have changed
but I know how you really feel about their silly complaints
how grating it is when people go against the grain
I promise, we’ll get em - those who believe in redistribution
gays straying from the Good Book or those fighting pollution
malcontents who whine about the mistreatment of labor
the bleeding hearts who see a bum and think to save her
for those of you on the other side, I see you getting bolder
I see you thinking about taking my head off my shoulders
but let me promise you - our. steel. is. colder.
you’re human filth, and we’re licensed government soldiers
you can’t cry about your rights with a shattered jaw
and that’s the least of your worries if you mess with the law
so here’s your last warning- if you see the boys in blue comin’
you’d better get out and you better hit the ground running
because by the time we hit your door, we’re gonna be gunnin
we’ve got our brothers in the black suits
the undercover guys hiding out in track suits
we all keep tabs on the rebels, malcontents, and youth
so please, there’s no pressure, there’s no need to think
you can sit back, kick back, relax, and pour up a drink
the only thing we ask is that you please, don’t make a stink
please don’t fret and worry about the potential cost
just grab the control, turn your TV on and your mind off
in fact, tune in to the latest version of Lost
the newest six season reason to keep your butt in your seat
and ignoring the people who are feeling our heat
ignoring whether or not what we’re doing is right
because with a criminal blight
you need to keep the end goal in sight
and just in case that’s against your so-called principles
let me tell you, bravery and belief are situational
maybe you’ve heard of a little thing called search and seizure
maybe you’ve got a daughter, or a mother - we’ll seize her
how much waterboarding do you think they can stand
before we’re holding a recording in our hand
of all the horrible un American things you’ve never done
but for which you’re gonna pay
you don’t want to go there, I promise that it’s not fun
but you will see it our way
we’ll see how much your principles are worth
or if you’ll sacrifice ‘em to gain peace on this earth
as long as you have nothing treacherous that needs to be hid
I promise you’ve got no worries for you or your kids
just keep those ideas of liberty and privacy outta your head
Pat Henry’s dead, so you can finally sleep safe in your bed
sure, the price might be your freedom of speech and thought
sure, a couple innocent people might end up shot
but your freedom is the sacrifice that security bought
and with it, everything everything is under control
we’ll find the criminals, we’ll dig em out of their holes
see, Arizona’s getting 500 guys from the National Guard
and you know that when those boys bang, they bang hard
and in two more months we’ll have Air Force spy planes
to patrol the desert, and send the illegals home in chains
and I remember, no humano es ilegal
the only humans who have to worry are the criminals

because I promise - everything I do is to serve and protect
even if you find my hands wrapped around your neck
it’s for the greater good of the red white and blue
it’s to serve and protect …most of you

she

I think you still read this; if you do, I'm sorry for all the shit I threw your way (and down the stairs). I had a lot of shitty facets.

Peace.


in every way
she is like the ocean
her body moves
with slow sure strength
the smooth comfortable power
of thick, rolling, unstoppable waves
think of a fox, or a wolf
she is not large, or heavy
she is sinew, wire - smooth power
but mere mammals
will stop from time to time
she never does
her eyes are green
a smoked glass shade of emerald
floating on a blue-black tidal pool
of unknown depth
her hands are tiny and wise
they can creep into any crack
like water sliding under the earth
skilled with Allen wrenches
knots both nautical and rope
and butterfly knives
she has lobsters in her blood
to match
the skeletons in her closet
coastal born and desert bred
whether sand or sea
her inner ear never falters
just her inner balance
from time to time
the ocean has its tempests
moments of fleeting frantic anger
ferocious furious violent confusion
sailors know to take warning
in treacherous waters with hidden rocks
when she storms she cries with gale-force winds
not a mere scream
something more defiant
more Charlemagne than Cleopatra
and her whirlpool emeralds
alight with Greek fire
scientists don’t know the formula
for this substance that burns on water
only because they’ve never met her
but hurricanes and tsunamis
are temporary disturbances
on the surface of a thing
driven by seismic currents
miles deep
and wrapping around the globe
in her strength and resolve
there is something of that tide
always flowing within her
an unstoppable need
to keep moving
to live discover and be
to breathe
like rivers that must always run downhill
the ocean that is always moving
she heeds only the call
of sun and moon
cutting her own path through rock and earth
the ocean can wash away anything
castles continents hearts
given enough time
so she believes in love
one that she can wrap around the world
but not relationships
relationships mean partners
partners means equality
there is no match
for the ocean
this does not bother her
there is sex in her power
she claims sailors when she wants
they try to ride the ocean
but she comes quickly
and there you find her
screaming like a Siren
beckoning you to crash on her
her hips move like the tide
rolling unending
she capsizes men to ride above them
curving in her tidal power
she comes again
when you splash on her shores
you realize
that boats are at the ocean’s mercy
her nails grip
telling you what to do
the boat in the harbor
at high tide during the storm
is tied down, fastened, smashing into the dock
grinding securely in her ropes
this time
her teeth grip your shoulder
the jagged rocks on the shore
just below the surface
and this time
you can feel the ocean
rolling inside her
she slumps off like a spent wave
and sleeps heavily
the sailor wakes
to find that she has flowed on
there is no betrayal in this
though man has trouble with it
the ocean gives and it takes away
it will not heed your call
only that of the sun and the moon
flowing on, moving, breathing, living
it does because it can, because it must
some see this as flight
and think her a bird
but flight implies a running from something
and rivers may always run, sure
but she is one with the ocean
the sun burnt on her chest
it has nothing to do with the heights she takes
or the depths to which she stoops
the currents are always pushing
her on a path she does not know
perhaps it is the crushing pressure
of the ocean’s weight
bearing down upon her
a voice that says she has not done enough
that there is always more to discover
just beyond the horizon
the fish which can survive
the killing weight of the ocean
can not stand its surface
maybe she has the sense
that the same sun which calls her
is forever out of her reach
beyond the surface of the sky
maybe she is always moving
because something is always missing
maybe
sailors may travel in search of something
she may move because motion gives meaning
she may move because it’s her nature
she may move because she is nature
and if there is a reason
it is beyond our grasp
like crystal waters off tropical islands
she is beautifull
like the tropical storms they birth without warning
she seems treacherous
like frigid polar waters
she denies those who approach
like whitewater
her mind froths and churns
comfortable in the truth
that time is all she ever needs
to erode the problems which lie before her
as she heeds the call of sun and moon
flowing going living breathing
encompassing everything
and searching for what may lie beyond the horizon
the ocean never rests
and it never ends
so whatever ships may ride its waters
whatever spills may stain its surface
whatever storms may come
it is mostly calm and moving
whatever comes she pushes on
like waves

Circle of Life

six hundred years ago we thought the earth was flatter
we can’t yet grasp that we just animated matter
if you’re still reading up, we are not the last chapter
when the end comes we are not what comes after

together we drive, just cruisin’ through the forest
one big caravan of the richest and the poorest
searching for a treeline that we’re never gonna find
since there’s no end to these they are not ordinary pines
for they bear not fruit, but bells
tolling the song so science seductive sells
see, we don’t like the rhythm or the beat
it reminds us we are dust beneath our feet
so the mudmen come pouring out of the hills
fighting for a time when time stands still
but for everything they bring to the table
this is one fight where they are not able
to break the circle, the bind, the ring
nothing works, not syringes, not slings
so the bells, they stay just out of our grasp
singing their song from behind Simba’s mask
one that’s counting tolling keeping time
for the moment when you get yours and I get mine
we might be stardust we might be golden
but we remain to the Circle of Life beholden
we’re fourteen billion year old carbon
we are definitely going back to the garden

still can’t grasp the fact that we just animated matter
if you’re still reading up, we are not the last chapter
when the end comes we are not what comes after

I know I’m sticking needles in dreams of immortality
but what I’m saying you should know so don’t get mad at me
I can hold it down but I’m not holding you down like gravity
you can fume and chuck your stones at the bells
when they hit the ground it’s the reason they fell
you can feel it pulling you too, back to the ground
some hate on it like it’s personally pulling them down
hate that you can see it in the old the way that they slouch
hate feeling finished going nowhere sinking in the couch
hate being pulled, back into the dust
hate being the same as the beasts and such
hate all you want but it’s a natural constant
it’s the song the rhythm of the bells meant
it holds atoms together, so molecules can exist
so we, so life, so you, can exist
that’s the rub, and the twist
why it doesn’t make sense to get pissed
it makes life possible, and it calls you back
uses you to rebuild elsewhere on evolution’s track
new improved models, a step up that ladder
something bigger and better, something nicer and badder
I think we forget that we are not the end of evolution
circles never end there’s no final revolution
though in our dreams we find the keys in our genes
no pill will ever be more than a smokescreen
science pretends to be God and claims clarity
to have found the key to the future
if we part with enough elbow grease and filthy lucre
it’s so hard to admit we’re not alpha or omega
we’re not the beginning or end
and bells will toll for mud mice and men

still can’t grasp the fact that we just animated matter
if you’re still reading up, we are not the last chapter
when the end comes we are not what comes after

so, yeah, Disney skips death in the Circle of Life
Simba’s sunrise is always falled by the night and the knife
we rise and we fall to make something else again
it’s fact that we’re all going to meet our end, my friend
I’m gonna upchuck some Chuck Palahniuk
on a long enough time line,
the life expectancy for everybody drops to zero
realize that none of this is meant to bring fear, so
don’t sit counting your pebbles but find beauty in mountains
in ebb and flow of rivers, waterfalls, and fountains
even mountains walk to the rhythm of moon tide erosion
stars shine with the promise of cosmic explosion
mortals are blessed to avoid eternity’s curse
to have a limited span that counts down from birth
mud and dust that for a time rises from the earth
with a limit granting the sweetness, passion, and worth
for some this knowledge is the apple roasting in hell
snake tongues flicking fire to the rhythm of the bells
but it’s their carol that lets me know all is well
you can’t stay so fill your days with play
put in some work, I eat shit like a fungi
but I let shit slide so I can be a fun guy
I don’t let this circle make me sing the sorrows
I know I don’t need a lot of shit
just love because I came with it
and I want to leave with it
and everything else is just borrowed
in my limited time I just want my light to shine
as I put some words to the grind
while I look for more love to make mine
because we are nothing but carbon
and we are going back to the garden
we’re just animated matter
we are not what comes after

shadow of a hummingbird

it’s been said
that the only difference
between civilization and chaos
is three meals and twenty-four hours
as we slowly turn to machines
the Mike Pollans and Morgan Spurlocks
the people who believe
we should be eating local and organic food
for ethical reasons
for individual health benefits
to save the environment
to save ourselves
will be an interesting historical footnote
a record of mankind’s final frontier
most of these
health-conscious holdouts
who stick to their forks
demanding local and organic food
will be excited to upgrade
prosthetic limbs
neural implants
subdural biomechanical processors
when the latest iPhone app
is downloaded
not for our phones
but for our lithium cerebellums
granting us extra information
on the road of immortality
most homegrown slow-food advocates
will join that new society
slow-cooked grass-fed open-range pork ribs
glazed in whiskey and secret spices
will be ancient relics
of a time
when man and machine still existed
before they became dead terms
because there ceased to be a difference
before mankind became a derogatory term
to describe the holdouts
clinging to backward notions
of romanticism and mortality
this small minority
who continue to demand that their food
be local, organic, and addititve-free
will not make their demands
for health reasons
but out of a bedrock belief
in the value of natural
in the value of transient, temporary, mortal
because of some misplaced faith
in chaos
in natural improvement
natural selection
gave birth to hummingbirds
beautiful mindless vacuums
flitting flying feeding breeding
all muscle and stomach and eyes
a hundred wingbeats a second
burns a lot of calories
for such a small bit of beauty
to a society
pleasantly accustomed
to every desire
being electronically met
by cheap applications
applicable to neural implants
everybody can be Kobe
everybody can be an artist
daredevil philanthropist
astronaut scientist explorer
everybody can be a rock star
coke and groupies
champagne and flowers
in a world electronic
without traffic jams
dark corners
and fresh air
all your dreams
electronically delivered
ones and zeroes
forever
to this world
a hummingbird’s shadow
will be an increasing blight
on a brilliantly efficient future
the prices of organic of local of food
will therefore rise accordingly
testing the rate at which
the holdouts are willing to pay
and the updated are willing to tolerate
their decline
the Compton Applachia Darfurs of 2030
the war-torn crime-ridden neighborhoods
of the future
will be the home to those who refuse
all but natural food and water
who decline electronic longevity
and can afford nothing
but food
and dimly lit cockroach-infested housing
both parasites starving
equalized by their need for food
the Hoovervilles of the coming singularity
of the glorious inevitable union
of man and machine
will be updated hippie communes of the sixties
but these
will be socialist utopias by necessity
farming to keep their identity
on increasingly low rations
as prices continue to rise
the self-immolating Buddhist monks of the seventies
will reappear
trading gasoline, matches, and indignation
for slow public suicide by hunger strike
Jonestown
will crisscross the globe
as the communes give up
and swallow down the kool-aid of defeat
laced with authentic raw cane sugar
the rate of these white flags
will be just low enough
to avoid protest
or indignation
from whatever is left of our empathy
once
we believed
that the flap of a butterfly’s wings
in Tokyo
could cause a tornado
in Texas
this butterfly effect
is an example of chaos theory
but chaos
is simply a word
describing what lies beyond
the ability to calculate and predict
a mysterious maelstrom
if you have enough data
processing power
and faith
there are no dark corners
mysteries
or surprises
the wings of a butterfly
are algorithmically preordained
the hummingbird’s shadow
will cease to exist
at a pre-calculated rate
driven by the speed of increasing food prices
if you have enough data
there are no surprises left in social psychology
the final frontier of mankind
will be the speed
at which we stop having any discomfort
with the final solution
of efficiency
there will be a mathematical poetry
in these final actuarial tables
the graphs which chart the end
of those final starving Buddhist monks
those dying organic hippie Jonestown communes
will trace
the sadly romantic
and completely unchaotic
fall of man

solipsism

It's a fun word, and this helped me deal with some psychotic shit.
Happy Halloween a couple months early. I want to do this one with a tweaker face, and maybe just run off the stage when I finish like I've actually just lost my shit. :D


if we are all one consciousness
experiencing itself
some of that
“everything is just energy”
moving at different vibrations
light shining on light
imagining itself in the reflections
if that’s the case
let me offer you
shit
let me talk to myself
about this hippie trip thinking
if we’re all one consciousness
perhaps we’re part of some greater being
or maybe we’re all on the same level
energy, light, green goo, whatever
we’re all equal and we’re all one
that sounds nicer to me
(which means it sounds better to you)
since we’re all one
and that
explains why I can hear you

see, maybe I’m more evolved
if we’re all one being
maybe evolution represents
our becoming more self-aware
as we recognize more of what we are
we evolve and get smarter
people are smarter than germs
maybe
I’m just more evolved than ya’ll
smarter than ya’ll
because I am tapping
into some higher-level shit
I can hear you in my head
maybe not you, or all of you
but I can hear you
even when I plug my ears
I checked
if we are not all one
either I’ve got really good hearing
or I’m hearing shit that ain’t there

I don’t like that
so I - we - are going with the one consciousness thing
because I have no other explanation
for why I can still hear you whispering
just barely loud enough to hear
if I stick my fingers in my ears
all the girls I ever wanted
are screaming on my neighbors’ dick
laughing they’d never fuck me
the emergency room doctors
are informing me my sisters didn’t make it
the doctors upstairs need to tell me
the test results are positive
I don’t have long to live
the people I walk past
judge me when I float by
they’re laughing, I know
at everything about me
snickering under their breath
some are calling security
I really shouldn’t be here
besides, probably half of you
are cracking up
because my ex girlfriend
fucked you too
she liked to scream
that you were better
now you know who she’s talking about
you’re telling your buddy about it
it’s fucking funny, isn’t it?
I can hear you laughing about it
I just can’t turn fast enough
to catch you
in a way, it’s funny
I shouldn’t be pissed
we’re all the same
so you’re laughing at yourself
she cheated on me with me
it’s all in how you look at it
fuck; sex is just jacking off
you pleasuring yourself
and me - haha!

thing is
Sartre said, “Hell is other people”
all of you
I can’t deal with the implications of that
I am burning inside
with knowledge and self-loathing
like a beautiful latte
of oil and crow’s blood
I dream of lighting beacons on rooftops
to signal lightning strikes
to light the same fire in you

If you are hell, though
I am hell too
all of this heat and agony
inside of me makes sense
and
since we are all one
you’re all burning
with the same fire
the same latte
the same dream
it’s all so clear now
all the world’s problems
are mine
my problems are yours
prejudice, bigotry, hate
it’s my self - loathing
all the lie cheat beg rape murder steal
beat abuse curse hatefuck kill
that’s you and me and everyone
we’re all in this together
you have the same dream
let’s do this
if I am you and you I
you want this as badly as I do
you might not know it yet
I’m more evolved
you haven’t heard what I’ve heard
I can help you
--I can burn all this down.

we can torch our way through
to the other side
to find ourselves
trust me, I’ve heard it
I haven’t seen it
not yet
but I can feel it
I can dream it
I can hear it
you’ve gotta hear this
I have a dream
I can help you
I can
I promise
I can help us
I can help me
I can burn all this down
--I’m going to get some matches