The Box

Act 1 – The Light 

Bouncing he comes 

Out into the light. 

He likes the look of it. 

Thinks it'll be alright. 

Alright 

Alright 

He’s out into the light 

 

Being There 

Hiding in the corner 

Mildewed, dank-hued, singing in silence 

Sincerely doubt you paid attention 

To what it had to say 

But that’s the point of it being there 

That is, to say it anyway. 

Planted down in well-worn grooves 

Root bound rhymes to seed the winter harvest 

They sew a million stories 

The hearers hear then tell a million more 

Doesn’t matter who pays attention 

To what they have to say 

Because that’s the point of them being here 

You know, to say it anyway 

 

Full Platter 

Pigs floating past, high on the wing  

With pantomime tales (whatever that means) 

Led laden balloons on a ‘Round-about run 

Trailing rainbows and flowers (the damage is done) 

What it all comes to? Nobody knows. 

Blues-drunk ambassadors with tacky phalanges.

Nuns with bad habits, thrashing with axes. 

Saxon savants who never got the memo

While a bipolar moon-man threw up in the limo

What it all comes to? Nobody knows

 

Greek 101  

You know, I know you know this girl 

She too had a box (that was really a jar) 

Filled with all manner of mischief 

Don’t open that thing whatever you do 

That’s what they said (it's what “they” always say)

And of course we all know that she did. 

So the good and the bad and the ugly and sad. 

Now all of those cats are out of the bag. 

But that’s not the end of the story. 

While the jar was ajar one small hope remained. 

The one cat to keep if you can’t keep them all 

And it’s still not the end of the story

Act II – The Dark 

Shivering he hides 

Dark comes for his light. 

He cries to put it out 

Not ready for the fight. 

The Fight 

The Fight 

Dark comes for his light.  

 

Backwards Mask 

In the evening as the clock approaches midnight 

Comes the answer to a question never asked 

Demonic dragons clad in pentatonic scaling 

Smoking, smiling there behind the backwards mask 

In the morning comes reality with breakfast 

It’s a joke but you know who’s laughing last 

Tell your stories moving sideways ‘round the table 

Putting on as you put on your backwards mask 

 

The Gift  

The gift that gives and gives 

One you didn’t see coming 

Before you know it owns your soul 

It’s your reason for living 

Conditions null and void 

Never thought it was in you. 

But now you know you can’t let go 

It’s your reason for living 

Then comes the hardest part 

You feed it to the lions 

And when they rip it all apart 

It feels like dying. 

Put on your rhino skin and… 

Let the fun begin. 

Had the nerve to light the fuse… 

Now let it burn 

 

Little Man 

Little man, little man 

you never made a thing 

Too afraid to put it out. 

Too afraid to sing. 

Little man, hollow man 

Nothing satisfies 

Why bother to create  

When you can criticize 

Little man, little mind 

You put them in their place 

Little man, shallow man 

A life all gone to waste 

So keen to put the bite 

On what you cannot taste 

Brutalitarianistically speaking 

Your mind has run aground 

And your soul… is sinking

Act III – The Dawn

Full tilt he runs 

Headlong to the Fight 

He feels the power of it 

To chase away the night 

The night 

The night 

Defeats it with his light 

 

Monkey C 

While they were doing  

what they shouldn’t have been doing. 

We were slipping away 

While they were sleeping  

where they shouldn’t have been sleeping. 

We were moving past. 

While they were playing  

with what they shouldn’t have been playing 

We were getting away 

While they were hiding  

where they shouldn’t have been hiding. 

We were already gone. 

BENEATH: 

Monkey see, monkey do, monkey. 

Monkey see, monkey do, monkey...

ABOVE: 

Hear no, See no, Speak no Evil 

Hear no, See no, Speak no Evil… 

 

Waiting

Waiting… for the shoe to drop 

...for the band to pop 

...for the release 

Waiting… for the skids to grease 

...for the fraud police 

Come to take me away 

She goes, she flows, she finds her own level 

Climb the ladder to the wall 

And say your peace 

The peace of resistance 

The peace of release 

 

Make a Sound 

When the waves crash 

When the tree falls 

When the siren sound calls you home 

When the rain comes down 

When the bull takes the horn 

On revolution radio 

Will you be listening? 

A pirate broadcast 

The first go to last 

And a whisper in the street 

A healing song  

Of righted wrongs 

And all the makers yet to meet 

Will you be listening? 

The banging drum 

The soldiers come 

And lay flowers at your feet 

And now you’re listening