The engineers club of odessa

I was eight or nine.
I saw sviatoslav richter
perform his first recital
at the engineers club of odessa

it was long before the genius was crushed
by an unrelenting state
and an unloving mother
unable to push past their inherent flaws

and every so often
until the curtain finally fell on everything
I would slink into the back row
of the engineers club of odessa

and dream of talent and genius
hoping to see a glimpse of it again
maybe this time we'll just let it be
the road to middle management is littered with men with morgages

gottfried leibniz's lack of optimism

when I lost my mind
i used to dream in monologues
of endless walks
through crowded city blocks

and I when I lost my mind
there was no need for alcohol,
the unbalanced chemicals in my head
kept me in mired in self loathing

but I never felt so alive and raw
it must have been the pain
or the despair
take your pick

after this,
all the thoughts spoken
should have stayed
buried deep 

I'm sorry for it all
I'm living day to day
I got to admit it getting better 
Getting so much better all the time

Omar Khadr came home

I was broken by the lack of light
a confined space
a hood on my head

an orange jump suit
i was made to wear
on the way to my mock execution

when I was fifteen
I had a dream
where I was a carpenter

I didn't know where I was going
but I was going  to try to be a man
I will be a good son of god

And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation

and one day
I will be with you st peter at your no muslim allowed gate
I'll be the one with the hood, wearing an orange jumpsuit

you know, the one,
the dying empire
wants to blame

personal stalingrad

thirty six
walking past midnight
with no were to be
until six am 

it's dark
and all I have is my regrets
and a buzz that will end in forty five minutes
if I don't find more fuel for it

and like the germans retreating from stalingrad
I've been whipped by my own greed,
naivety and trusted the worst person I could find
and that is all on me 

and when I get back to the home front
it lies in ruins
and the locals
don't want to see me

so I'm walking past this neon lit gas station
with forty bucks in my pocket
at two thirty seven in morning
and if not for the boys

I'd be looking
for a place six feet under
no wonder I lost my mind
and why it's took so long to recover 

anglican thug life

I was raised by a pack of anglicans
who were constantly falling down
simply to get up again

and in that tumbling
a chorus
could be heard

I'm so sorry
I'm so sorry in my guilt
I never meant to hurt you

while all the while
we raped africa
and bombed dresden

and when ever I go into a church
my middle finger salute
rises up over my head

thine is the kingdom
and the power
and the glory

The young bruno bauer with his lady at loblaws

we're walking hand in hand
in sync, in step
smiling toothy grins
we seem to be floating
down the isles
past the pop and the beer
colours abound
functional food
packaged fish
frozen meet
sadly cellular automaton
will no longer do
two sets of chromosomes
walking hand in hand
no body could contain
the giddiness of us in awe
they say that joy can't be scientific
immanuel kant may disagree
but these feelings baby
seem to come from nowhere
it's probably the chemicals in our heads

Me you and our lies

we were walking on a another snowy night
and she said..
your lies are so big
you need a transit plan,
to simply get around them,  so I said

you're an coward in a bra
and you're becoming the poster girl of your mom
to uptight to enjoy life
and to lost in the joke
that is her "plans"

we walked past a church
where jesus saves
and jesus bent down
and whispered into my ear
"go ahead and kiss her, you don't know what your missing"

so I did and she said
you're not as clever as mark twain
but you're easy on the eyes
so give me another kiss
and tell me some more tall tales

well there was a corn field near trois-rivières
that used to sing in the rain
and now a box mall stands on the spot
and shits out carbon by the parts per million
crazy enough, its where I fell in love with you