Submit your work, meet writers and drop the ads. Become a member
 
Swan Songs Feb 2021
Young man
Starting to feel old
In a body that dies
His soul cries for more

He is fortune in squalor
He is fortune to squander
He is a bitter display
Of diminishing wonder

And a voice says:
“Hey, you're alright
But if you want to fight
I'm going to smite you till you die”

Young man
Watching the wind blow
An ephemeral tide
And he writhes like a fish out of water

He is a misfortunate scholar
He and misfortune are lovers
He is the end of the world
And the dawning of wonder

And the voice says:
“This is your demise
You can blame the sunrise
When it shines in your eyes
And buy yourself some time
But your inner disquiet
Is just adding fuel to my ire”

So the young man prays
He prays…

“O God, it hurts
I'm dying, convert me
I can't bear to rot through eternity
This life gets worse
I’m trying, unearth me
Hear the prayer of this speck in infinity
Because time is a curse
I’m defying, rebirth me
I can’t fare through this mortal obscurity (alone)”

And his voice says:
“Be still, my child
You are in perfect health
Stop talking to yourself
I’ll be your ally
Until you’re old and wise
On my horizon
And the sun will rise
Like a body that dies
But you won’t see it shine in your eyes”
Swan Songs Feb 2021
You’re always right
Until you forget that you’re alive
You’re always righteous
Until you forget what is right

Your soul is a paper kite
And the wind that blows sets it alight
But your body is flightless
You recall when you fall from a great height

You’re screaming into
An endless void
Hearing an echo
Of your own voice
Screaming back at you
Filling your own void
Swan Songs Feb 2021
Old man
I wrote a song for you, old man
I wrote a song for you
You wouldn’t care for it though, old man
It’s a selfish song
That you’ve heard before

Young child
I wrote a song for you, young child
I wrote a song for you
You couldn’t care for it though, young child
It’s a sad old song
That goes on too long

Lost love
I wrote a song for you, lost love
I wrote a song for you
You shouldn’t care for it though, my love
The words are not my own
And the tune I stole

Last night
I wrote a poem by candlelight
And every word was right
Then I set the page alight
And with smoke in my eyes
I erased it from my mind
Swan Songs Feb 2021
I’ve got some money and a swag and a gun – and my lover
My lover and I are on the run
We changed our hair, our clothes, our names, we’re undiscovered
But she cannot escape the things I’ve done

Oh, my Daisy Dunne

I’m thinking to myself, “I think I love her”
But not half as much as I’m scared I’ll lose control
So I hold that naïve girl and tell her I love her
Out of fear she might forsake my aching soul

‘Cause I can’t bear the thought of hanging from the rope all on my own
I’m trying to take her to Heaven with me but I’ll burn in Hell alone
Me and Daisy Dunne will run into the angry setting sun
But we cannot outrun the things I’ve done

We’re hiding out in a shack by the sea with my little brother
At half my age he’s twice the man I’ll be
But I see the way he looks at my lover
And I killed the last man who tried to take her from me

I shot him dead and then we fled, but his eyes still stare at me
Now my lover screams from in her dreams while I lie awake listening
Me and Daisy Dunne are one, until the judgement of kingdom come
Until they hang me from my neck for what I’ve done

Oh, my days are done

Please, will someone spare the truth from my poor mother?
Don’t you tell her what befell her eldest son
You can tell her all about my lovely lover
But do not let Mum know the man that I’ve become
I just wish she could have met my Daisy Dunne

One fateful night I caught Daisy’s eye, she was giving me a silent plea
Then I saw some light and I decided it was time for me to set her free
But my Daisy Dunne she took my gun and killed a man who was chasing me
And now she’s standing beside me here at the gallows tree

(As they lower the hood over evil and good, the last things we will see
Are my longing stare and her accusing glare, and it suddenly occurs to me
I have no way of knowing where it is I’m going, but I have the distinct feeling:
Whatever is next, my Daisy will not be there with me
And I could have used my last words to tell her that I’m sorry)
Swan Songs Feb 2021
Time and space
And earthly distaste
Idle days
Petty, puny, erased

Pride of place
In the infinite waste
Where you start and stop
And then disembark
From this plane
It’s your birthday today
Candles fade to a spark
In the dark

And you hurt like an animal
Torn at the seams
You hurt like desire and dreams

Time and space
Unearthly embrace
A way to escape this rock
A walk in the park
It’s not enough
And more of a run in the dark

And you hurt like forever might
You are lead in a breeze
You hurt like reflection and greed
You hurt like survival
You hurt like defeat (you think)
You hurt like it’s something you need

Time and space
Every earthly distaste
Pity, puny, erased
Swan Songs Feb 2021
Colourful discussion
Free to be unfair
Our intentions strictly pure
But hastened resolve braced the air

Some misleading understood
Selfishly devoted
I felt compelled to share the truth
Of what I felt should truth itself

But you laughed at me and my blasphemy
You laughed at me and my blasphemy

As if I declared the world was round
Swan Songs Feb 2021
Sonny, you’re out to dry
Sunny, you’re out to dry
Slumbering clouds
Weep into the ground
It’s only matter
That never dies

Sonny, you’re out to dry
Sunny, you’re out to dry
The thundering sound
Is silence now
You’re only matter
Where "you" resides
Next page