Gasoline
{prophase}
Ten Thousand, Thousand Scimitars,
Curved like Gleaming, Deadly Moons in Desert sands,
Stood like Testaments in Pain
And Answered Not The Riddle that they made
Of Whence their Owners fled, and Why,
Beside each Blade,
A Severed, Thieving Hand was laid,
Its Digits Splayed and clutching Windy Grit,
And Wild, upon the Lonely Night reflected,
Fraught with Greed and endless Yearning,
Screaming silver screams and wanting
Human Debt and Glorious Fortune,
Two Eyes, like Melted, Mangled Stone,
Stared from the Dead and Barren, Ancient Mud,
Two Arid lips sneered in Twisted Splendor
And The Voice of a Million Whispers told the Primal story
In lisps and blistered hisses,
Painful on the Air
And Scorching to the Ear.
In fear,
The Listener listened,
And the Night was Wise,
(And shared The Listener's two Mauled, Blinded Eyes)
And did not Stare upon that Blasted Place
But drew her Tattered remnant clouds about her Shrinking,
Pallid, Aged, and Raped, and Withered face,
While scattered athwart the Undulous Dunes,
Bastard eagles had abandoned Rest
And stood like Statues in the Deadened Earth,
Their Talons reaching Roots into the Endless, Icy soil
In search of Water;
Finding none,
They turned their Burning, Eagle eyes
And stared into the Distant Spires
Where Babylon The Mother rose
And washed her Hands in Blood and Oil,
And there the Soundless Eagles stood,
And then the Blinded Listener saw
The smiles of the Dying Warriors
And the Fulminating Tombs;
The Aethered Muck and Twisted Wounds
Of Baghdad's burning
Gasoline
OM BRAANG BREENG BROUNG SAH BUDHAY NAMAH
OM SHRAANG SHREENG SHROUNG SAH CHANDRAMASE NAMAH
(O ye Princes, ye Princes, ye Princes of Saud,
What Glory and Abasement here!
Feel the Sultry, sultry Fear.
See them walk The Narrow Line;
Homage for Thee and Honor to Thine,
Standing in a Global line, to pay and pay and ne'er decline
Thy Gasoline.)
"From Whence Cometh Thou?" the Dust God 'quired,
And then The Listener shivered, Spake,
"I know not, yet I stand to hear
Thee speak thy Flower'd Prophecy.
Tell me the Riddle of these Dead Sands,
The Eagles and the Scimitars,
And these Skeletal Hands.
I have this Wish to Know, of Thee,
The Past and all that Pyred here,
And then perhaps shall I Unlock
My own sad, Glooming Mystery."
And in that Moon-swept, Awful Plain
The Seared and Crumbled Voice did rise,
And Groaning like a Thousand Knives
Bade The Listener listen Well,
For it was Known that it should be
That once this Tale was Voiced so Free,
And carried on the Sibilant Air
To permeate the Tortured sphere,
The Dayless Night would, in its horror, claim
All that Lived,
All that Breathed;
The last remaining Mortal Morsel
Of the Vanquished Human Sea.
OM BRAANG BREENG BROUNG SAH BUDHAY NAMAH
OM SHRAANG SHREENG SHROUNG SAH CHANDRAMASE NAMAH
And first The Listener stood Dazed and Mad,
Then, Spun like a Billion Torches into Flame,
Her mind swept Burning Gullies into the Labyrinth Of Time
And once again, all Sight was Plain,
And Rushing like a Locust Horde
Such Figments came
And swift the Ancient journey's Mosaic laid.
She stared into the Ghastly face
Of Endless Pride and Murderous Greed,
And watched while Ever-rising came
The State Of Apartheid and the Maelstrom;
The War for Gasoline
OM BRAANG BREENG BROUNG SAH BUDHAY NAMAH
OM SHRAANG SHREENG SHROUNG SAH CHANDRAMASE NAMAH
There were Haves and there were Have-Nots,
And the Have-Nots did as they were told,
And the Haves had the Power and all the Have-Nots' Stolen Gold,
And the Haves were Dark, and Fierce, and Wilding,
And Theirs was the Law and the Grace and the Mercy,
And Theirs was The Word that Burned or Bred.
And their Minions were Legion, and Maddened, and Lusting;
A Multitude Soulless and Dread.
Then did the Have-Nots make Desperate Plan,
(Forged in the Mines of Minds and Dreading)
And searched for The Secret Scorpion Believer,
And set a Tribal King upon a Throne.
And the Have-Nots grew Turgid with Power, and Bold!
For the King was more Ballast in the War-Game of Ages.
(He had Oil, and Secrets, and Dreams of his Own)
Him they placed to Aggrieve;
To Threaten the Force of Those Who Believe,
And to hold with Abandon the Proud Bastards' testes,
And make them give in to Frustrations and Rages,
And Threaten to oust Medina's Sons,
And make them spend Hours in Serious Debate,
Filled with Hate, The Believers believed
There was a Need to Retaliate
A Warning was Issued;
Sped a Dutiful Slave to the Warrens and Gullies
In The Land of the Maddened Poppy Seed,
To Carve from the Raw Flesh of Infidel Puppies
The Army that Allah would Need
9/11 (nine eleven)
nunc dimittis servum tuum Domine secundum verbum tuum in pace
Domine,
9/12 (nine twelve)
quia viderunt oculi mei salutare tuum,
9/13 (nine thirteen)
quod parasti ante faciem omnium populorum,
9/14 (nine fourteen)
lumen ad revelationem gentium
9/15 (nine fifteen)
et gloriam plebis tuae Israel.
Yis'ga'dal v'yis'kadash sh'may ra'bbo, b'olmo dee'vro chir'usay v'yamlich malchu'say, b'chayaychon uv'yomay'chon uv'chayay d'chol bais Yisroel, ba'agolo u'viz'man koriv; v'imru Omein.
Y'hay shmay rabbo m'vorach l'olam ul'olmay olmayo.
Yisborach v'yishtabach v'yispoar v'yisromam v'yismasay, v'yishador v'yis'aleh v'yisalal, shmay d'kudsho, brich hu, l'aylo min kl birchoso v'sheeroso, tush'bechoso v'nechemoso, da, ameeran b'olmo; vimru Omein.
Y'hay shlomo rabbo min sh'mayo, v'chayim alaynu v'al kol Yisroel; v'imru Omein.
Oseh sholom bimromov, hu ya'aseh sholom olaynu, v'al kol yisroel; vimru Omein.
Gaza! Gaza! Gaza! Gaza!
"Illahi Illahi il Allah,
Mohammed Ur Is Ul Allah."
The Burning Sands were Flayed and Dead,
The Air wheeled Carrion Messengers to Dine,
Like silken Sheaves of Corn, the Dead begat the newly Dead,
And all across the Vast and Shining sea,
The Metal Dragon heard and Wept its Golden Tears of Blood and Need,
And Swore its Secret Pact with the Honey-Seeker,
Whose Pelt, now Frayed, had Shivered long
And waited, Wasted, Wan and Wanting,
Cankered in its Dewy Lair,
With Kisses placed like Promises
Along its Silent Routes of Trade;
It searched the skies
With Ever-Seeking, Animal eyes
And dragged upon its Ash'd and Matted hair,
And wailed its Frantic Honey-Seeker song.
The Dragon heard the Lyred, Gravid Plea
And Whispered,
"Soon now, soon, Old Friend,
There shall be Victory."
Yet, the Honey-Seeker Yearned,
And all The Dragon's Ardent Words
Could not Persuade its Maddened Quest,
For yet it Burned,
And then it Fell,
And Lost and Dazed,
It stumbled from its Darkened Cave
And swore Frugality upon its Young,
And sold itself to Frothing Merchants
Hungering Uranium and the Ultimate High.
And far away, The Eagle soared and sang its Song of Foolish Praise;
Rejoiced and sped across the sea
To Celebrate and Joke its Markets into Magical spending
It had foretold this End was nigh;
Could not restrain Ecstatic Joy!
Flushed with Power, groaning with Ability
It Preached its Burden
To the Minions of Money
The Lords of Cash
The Druids of Democracy
Curved like Gleaming, Deadly Moons in Desert sands,
Stood like Testaments in Pain
And Answered Not The Riddle that they made
Of Whence their Owners fled, and Why,
Beside each Blade,
A Severed, Thieving Hand was laid,
Its Digits Splayed and clutching Windy Grit,
And Wild, upon the Lonely Night reflected,
Fraught with Greed and endless Yearning,
Screaming silver screams and wanting
Human Debt and Glorious Fortune,
Two Eyes, like Melted, Mangled Stone,
Stared from the Dead and Barren, Ancient Mud,
Two Arid lips sneered in Twisted Splendor
And The Voice of a Million Whispers told the Primal story
In lisps and blistered hisses,
Painful on the Air
And Scorching to the Ear.
In fear,
The Listener listened,
And the Night was Wise,
(And shared The Listener's two Mauled, Blinded Eyes)
And did not Stare upon that Blasted Place
But drew her Tattered remnant clouds about her Shrinking,
Pallid, Aged, and Raped, and Withered face,
While scattered athwart the Undulous Dunes,
Bastard eagles had abandoned Rest
And stood like Statues in the Deadened Earth,
Their Talons reaching Roots into the Endless, Icy soil
In search of Water;
Finding none,
They turned their Burning, Eagle eyes
And stared into the Distant Spires
Where Babylon The Mother rose
And washed her Hands in Blood and Oil,
And there the Soundless Eagles stood,
And then the Blinded Listener saw
The smiles of the Dying Warriors
And the Fulminating Tombs;
The Aethered Muck and Twisted Wounds
Of Baghdad's burning
Gasoline
OM BRAANG BREENG BROUNG SAH BUDHAY NAMAH
OM SHRAANG SHREENG SHROUNG SAH CHANDRAMASE NAMAH
(O ye Princes, ye Princes, ye Princes of Saud,
What Glory and Abasement here!
Feel the Sultry, sultry Fear.
See them walk The Narrow Line;
Homage for Thee and Honor to Thine,
Standing in a Global line, to pay and pay and ne'er decline
Thy Gasoline.)
"From Whence Cometh Thou?" the Dust God 'quired,
And then The Listener shivered, Spake,
"I know not, yet I stand to hear
Thee speak thy Flower'd Prophecy.
Tell me the Riddle of these Dead Sands,
The Eagles and the Scimitars,
And these Skeletal Hands.
I have this Wish to Know, of Thee,
The Past and all that Pyred here,
And then perhaps shall I Unlock
My own sad, Glooming Mystery."
And in that Moon-swept, Awful Plain
The Seared and Crumbled Voice did rise,
And Groaning like a Thousand Knives
Bade The Listener listen Well,
For it was Known that it should be
That once this Tale was Voiced so Free,
And carried on the Sibilant Air
To permeate the Tortured sphere,
The Dayless Night would, in its horror, claim
All that Lived,
All that Breathed;
The last remaining Mortal Morsel
Of the Vanquished Human Sea.
OM BRAANG BREENG BROUNG SAH BUDHAY NAMAH
OM SHRAANG SHREENG SHROUNG SAH CHANDRAMASE NAMAH
And first The Listener stood Dazed and Mad,
Then, Spun like a Billion Torches into Flame,
Her mind swept Burning Gullies into the Labyrinth Of Time
And once again, all Sight was Plain,
And Rushing like a Locust Horde
Such Figments came
And swift the Ancient journey's Mosaic laid.
She stared into the Ghastly face
Of Endless Pride and Murderous Greed,
And watched while Ever-rising came
The State Of Apartheid and the Maelstrom;
The War for Gasoline
OM BRAANG BREENG BROUNG SAH BUDHAY NAMAH
OM SHRAANG SHREENG SHROUNG SAH CHANDRAMASE NAMAH
There were Haves and there were Have-Nots,
And the Have-Nots did as they were told,
And the Haves had the Power and all the Have-Nots' Stolen Gold,
And the Haves were Dark, and Fierce, and Wilding,
And Theirs was the Law and the Grace and the Mercy,
And Theirs was The Word that Burned or Bred.
And their Minions were Legion, and Maddened, and Lusting;
A Multitude Soulless and Dread.
Then did the Have-Nots make Desperate Plan,
(Forged in the Mines of Minds and Dreading)
And searched for The Secret Scorpion Believer,
And set a Tribal King upon a Throne.
And the Have-Nots grew Turgid with Power, and Bold!
For the King was more Ballast in the War-Game of Ages.
(He had Oil, and Secrets, and Dreams of his Own)
Him they placed to Aggrieve;
To Threaten the Force of Those Who Believe,
And to hold with Abandon the Proud Bastards' testes,
And make them give in to Frustrations and Rages,
And Threaten to oust Medina's Sons,
And make them spend Hours in Serious Debate,
Filled with Hate, The Believers believed
There was a Need to Retaliate
A Warning was Issued;
Sped a Dutiful Slave to the Warrens and Gullies
In The Land of the Maddened Poppy Seed,
To Carve from the Raw Flesh of Infidel Puppies
The Army that Allah would Need
9/11 (nine eleven)
nunc dimittis servum tuum Domine secundum verbum tuum in pace
Domine,
9/12 (nine twelve)
quia viderunt oculi mei salutare tuum,
9/13 (nine thirteen)
quod parasti ante faciem omnium populorum,
9/14 (nine fourteen)
lumen ad revelationem gentium
9/15 (nine fifteen)
et gloriam plebis tuae Israel.
Yis'ga'dal v'yis'kadash sh'may ra'bbo, b'olmo dee'vro chir'usay v'yamlich malchu'say, b'chayaychon uv'yomay'chon uv'chayay d'chol bais Yisroel, ba'agolo u'viz'man koriv; v'imru Omein.
Y'hay shmay rabbo m'vorach l'olam ul'olmay olmayo.
Yisborach v'yishtabach v'yispoar v'yisromam v'yismasay, v'yishador v'yis'aleh v'yisalal, shmay d'kudsho, brich hu, l'aylo min kl birchoso v'sheeroso, tush'bechoso v'nechemoso, da, ameeran b'olmo; vimru Omein.
Y'hay shlomo rabbo min sh'mayo, v'chayim alaynu v'al kol Yisroel; v'imru Omein.
Oseh sholom bimromov, hu ya'aseh sholom olaynu, v'al kol yisroel; vimru Omein.
Gaza! Gaza! Gaza! Gaza!
"Illahi Illahi il Allah,
Mohammed Ur Is Ul Allah."
The Burning Sands were Flayed and Dead,
The Air wheeled Carrion Messengers to Dine,
Like silken Sheaves of Corn, the Dead begat the newly Dead,
And all across the Vast and Shining sea,
The Metal Dragon heard and Wept its Golden Tears of Blood and Need,
And Swore its Secret Pact with the Honey-Seeker,
Whose Pelt, now Frayed, had Shivered long
And waited, Wasted, Wan and Wanting,
Cankered in its Dewy Lair,
With Kisses placed like Promises
Along its Silent Routes of Trade;
It searched the skies
With Ever-Seeking, Animal eyes
And dragged upon its Ash'd and Matted hair,
And wailed its Frantic Honey-Seeker song.
The Dragon heard the Lyred, Gravid Plea
And Whispered,
"Soon now, soon, Old Friend,
There shall be Victory."
Yet, the Honey-Seeker Yearned,
And all The Dragon's Ardent Words
Could not Persuade its Maddened Quest,
For yet it Burned,
And then it Fell,
And Lost and Dazed,
It stumbled from its Darkened Cave
And swore Frugality upon its Young,
And sold itself to Frothing Merchants
Hungering Uranium and the Ultimate High.
And far away, The Eagle soared and sang its Song of Foolish Praise;
Rejoiced and sped across the sea
To Celebrate and Joke its Markets into Magical spending
It had foretold this End was nigh;
Could not restrain Ecstatic Joy!
Flushed with Power, groaning with Ability
It Preached its Burden
To the Minions of Money
The Lords of Cash
The Druids of Democracy
{metaphase}
(Ten Thousand, Thousand Scimitars,
Curved like Gleaming, Deadly Moons in Desert Sands,
Stood like Testaments in Pain
And Answered Not the Riddle that they made
Of whence their Owners fled, and why,
Beside each Blade,
A Severed, Thieving Hand was laid,
Its Digits splayed and Clutching Windy Grit...)
The Listener heard the Keening Darkness
And the Saddened Wind,
And from her tired, Wounded eyes
The Slow and Welling salted Hurt began to fall,
And where it fell
Upon that Cursed and Horrid ground,
The Imprints sank and, in the Aether,
Called to Life such Small and Creeping Things
As had not Passed entirely to Filth and Dust,
And suddenly she bent her Head and Wept;
A Girlish Weeping, Small and Soft
And Moaning in its Virtue,
"Not enough."
And in the Face upon the Sand
A Grimace stretched and Yawned and Gaped,
And from the Icy Cavern Drawn
There came the Sound of Mirth and Dread,
Unholy Joy and Ancient Smirk,
The Tremors of the Wilderness Waked!
And Laughing in Ascending Scorn
A Hot Wind Rushed, and all the Earth
Seemed clouded by that Desert Breath;
Seemed Petrified in Twisted Stone.
And The Listener stood Desolate.
And Hating and Alone,
And Caring Not,
The eagles Stood
And Gazed upon her Sorrowed Face,
And every Talon Sharp'd and Poised,
(There was a Sudden Hunger in the Air)
And all was Wrecked and All Was Death.
There was no Movement;
Sound and silence Putrefied.
Then the Graven Maw, lusting,
Released Nightmare's whisper,
And the Sorrowing Stones appeared to Rejoice.
A Word lay Dense upon that Air,
And it was Gasoline
Gold was the Color of Money,
(And Money was Good as gold)
The Princes left Mecca and rode on Swift Horses
And Flayed them, and Frothed,
And Bargained, and Promised,
And Ever and Always,
Their Hands were Outstretched;
They Held whatever they Sold.
Gold shrieked in the Nocturnal Stench
Of Noxious Trade and Debtor Disease
Between Maddened Spot Princes,
Over-handled, Dangled, Drenched
In Sweaty Counting Machines.
Clinking, clanking, shifting, sinking, rising, rising
Under wraps and Brothel Knickers,
It Roared and Hummed,
And Throbbed and Orgasmed,
With Dirty Velocity.
Gold were the Tombs in the State Of The Virgin,
Touched by the Late Southern Sun,
And the Flags were Rotted, and Marred by Blood,
And Burnt at the Feet of the Weary One
Whose Iron Eyes turned Inwards to Contemplate
Mediocrity and Doubting,
Failed Economics,
Ergonomics,
Visible Hands,
Verbal Slashes,
Smithian Dreams,
Godism,
Walden Pondism,
Xauism, Dowism, Nasdaqism,
Conspiracy Theorism,
Harvardism, Yalism, Upennism, Princetonism, Berkeleyism,
Barbarism, Confusionism, Coinism
Outsourcism,
Hate.
And The Listener watched and listened Well,
Raptured in the Dark and Visions,
Tearing past the veil of time.
And far above, the Maddened Sun,
Heaved and Shrunken, Pygmy-sized,
Sang its Forlorn Requiem unto the Anguished Skies.
And as She watched in Dreadful Pain,
All across The Earth the strange, vast Fiscal Twilight fell,
And all the Stars and Moons and Planets
Froze and Screamed, and then,
In strung-out Interplanetary Platitudes,
They spoke of the Nightmare that grew from the Dreams
Of Babel and of Rome,
of Albion, Obal, Sheleph and Uzal,
Ammon, Moab and Edom,
Amor, Aram, Arkites, Ashkenaz,
Asshur, Assyria, Caphtor, Canaan,
Cush, Dedan, Ophir, Jobab and Sheba,
Girgashites, Gomer, Javan,
Magog and Rus, and Tiras and Rosh,
Midian, Mizraim, Philistia, Phoenicia,
Persia, Phut, Riphath, Tubal,
Scythia, Sinites, Togarmah, Tarshish,
And Captains and Sluts, and Scoundrels and Kings,
And Murdered Economies' Harlots and Queens,
John Maynard Keynes,
And Gasoline.
And thus The Listener heard:
And then The Listener moaned and bled,
And Groveled in the Gasping Dust.
And yet the Grinning God did Speak
Of Death and Joy, and Gorgeous Lust.
And yet again, The Listener heard,
And placed her Shaking Hands upon her head
To blot the Sound of that last Evil Word,
Which still the Maddened Dust expressed
And left to linger in the Weary Air,
And on the Current of the Dying World;
The Word was
Gasoline.
OM BRAANG BREENG BROUNG SAH BUDHAY NAMAH
OM SHRAANG SHREENG SHROUNG SAH CHANDRAMASE NAMAH
Curved like Gleaming, Deadly Moons in Desert Sands,
Stood like Testaments in Pain
And Answered Not the Riddle that they made
Of whence their Owners fled, and why,
Beside each Blade,
A Severed, Thieving Hand was laid,
Its Digits splayed and Clutching Windy Grit...)
The Listener heard the Keening Darkness
And the Saddened Wind,
And from her tired, Wounded eyes
The Slow and Welling salted Hurt began to fall,
And where it fell
Upon that Cursed and Horrid ground,
The Imprints sank and, in the Aether,
Called to Life such Small and Creeping Things
As had not Passed entirely to Filth and Dust,
And suddenly she bent her Head and Wept;
A Girlish Weeping, Small and Soft
And Moaning in its Virtue,
"Not enough."
And in the Face upon the Sand
A Grimace stretched and Yawned and Gaped,
And from the Icy Cavern Drawn
There came the Sound of Mirth and Dread,
Unholy Joy and Ancient Smirk,
The Tremors of the Wilderness Waked!
And Laughing in Ascending Scorn
A Hot Wind Rushed, and all the Earth
Seemed clouded by that Desert Breath;
Seemed Petrified in Twisted Stone.
And The Listener stood Desolate.
And Hating and Alone,
And Caring Not,
The eagles Stood
And Gazed upon her Sorrowed Face,
And every Talon Sharp'd and Poised,
(There was a Sudden Hunger in the Air)
And all was Wrecked and All Was Death.
There was no Movement;
Sound and silence Putrefied.
Then the Graven Maw, lusting,
Released Nightmare's whisper,
And the Sorrowing Stones appeared to Rejoice.
A Word lay Dense upon that Air,
And it was Gasoline
Gold was the Color of Money,
(And Money was Good as gold)
The Princes left Mecca and rode on Swift Horses
And Flayed them, and Frothed,
And Bargained, and Promised,
And Ever and Always,
Their Hands were Outstretched;
They Held whatever they Sold.
Gold shrieked in the Nocturnal Stench
Of Noxious Trade and Debtor Disease
Between Maddened Spot Princes,
Over-handled, Dangled, Drenched
In Sweaty Counting Machines.
Clinking, clanking, shifting, sinking, rising, rising
Under wraps and Brothel Knickers,
It Roared and Hummed,
And Throbbed and Orgasmed,
With Dirty Velocity.
Gold were the Tombs in the State Of The Virgin,
Touched by the Late Southern Sun,
And the Flags were Rotted, and Marred by Blood,
And Burnt at the Feet of the Weary One
Whose Iron Eyes turned Inwards to Contemplate
Mediocrity and Doubting,
Failed Economics,
Ergonomics,
Visible Hands,
Verbal Slashes,
Smithian Dreams,
Godism,
Walden Pondism,
Xauism, Dowism, Nasdaqism,
Conspiracy Theorism,
Harvardism, Yalism, Upennism, Princetonism, Berkeleyism,
Barbarism, Confusionism, Coinism
Outsourcism,
Hate.
And The Listener watched and listened Well,
Raptured in the Dark and Visions,
Tearing past the veil of time.
And far above, the Maddened Sun,
Heaved and Shrunken, Pygmy-sized,
Sang its Forlorn Requiem unto the Anguished Skies.
And as She watched in Dreadful Pain,
All across The Earth the strange, vast Fiscal Twilight fell,
And all the Stars and Moons and Planets
Froze and Screamed, and then,
In strung-out Interplanetary Platitudes,
They spoke of the Nightmare that grew from the Dreams
Of Babel and of Rome,
of Albion, Obal, Sheleph and Uzal,
Ammon, Moab and Edom,
Amor, Aram, Arkites, Ashkenaz,
Asshur, Assyria, Caphtor, Canaan,
Cush, Dedan, Ophir, Jobab and Sheba,
Girgashites, Gomer, Javan,
Magog and Rus, and Tiras and Rosh,
Midian, Mizraim, Philistia, Phoenicia,
Persia, Phut, Riphath, Tubal,
Scythia, Sinites, Togarmah, Tarshish,
And Captains and Sluts, and Scoundrels and Kings,
And Murdered Economies' Harlots and Queens,
John Maynard Keynes,
And Gasoline.
And thus The Listener heard:
And then The Listener moaned and bled,
And Groveled in the Gasping Dust.
And yet the Grinning God did Speak
Of Death and Joy, and Gorgeous Lust.
And yet again, The Listener heard,
And placed her Shaking Hands upon her head
To blot the Sound of that last Evil Word,
Which still the Maddened Dust expressed
And left to linger in the Weary Air,
And on the Current of the Dying World;
The Word was
Gasoline.
OM BRAANG BREENG BROUNG SAH BUDHAY NAMAH
OM SHRAANG SHREENG SHROUNG SAH CHANDRAMASE NAMAH
{anaphase}
And now, upon that Ghosted, Fester'd plain,
The eagles Soared and to the Aether cried,
And all the Hosts of Hunger and of Blood;
The Jackal Members and The Flies,
Began to Writhe, and Snarl, and Pant,
And slow Advance with Fetid, Yellowed Eyes
From Cave, and Lair, and Fallen Den
Towards The Listener and the God,
And as They came
They stopped, and searched the Looming Hills,
And in the Corners of their mouths
They carried Poisoned Spit and Flesh,
And Dread, and Hate,
And Truth and Lies.
The Listener stared upon their Throng,
(Saw nothing but The Darkness come)
And all her Visions Lightly Fled,
And with them took the Lambence,
And the Frail, Residual Light,
And Wrapt the Face of the God from view
Forever in the Icy Ground;
The Treacherous and Shadow'd Mud,
And yet, she Heard The Evil Host, and then,
Stumbled Forward and began to Hasten
She knew not Where
Across that Vast and Wild Expanse.
And then the eagles Dropped like Stones
And came to The Feast Of Wounded Prey
To Eat, to Rend, to be Appeased
Upon All that Lived,
All that Breathed,
The Last Remaining Mortal Morsel
Of the Vanquished Human Sea.
But Now, upon The Hills
There shone a Dimmed and Hopeful light!
And the Air filled with the Song of Burning Wings
And Delight.
The Ravening eagles paused, and swiftly Fled away,
And all that Wanton, Slavering Host
Arrested Movement, shivered Back,
And The Listener gazed into the Endless, Nuclear night,
And wiped her Blistered Forehead and her Sightless eyes,
And listened Enraptured and Forlorn,
To the Phoenix in its Wheeling Bliss;
She felt the Fire of its Kiss!
And mounted on its Hallowed Wings.
And then, before that August Grace took Flight,
Its Clarion Prayer filled All The Dome, and
The Listener wept, and then She Thought
That there was Hope.
And then The Phoenix, Burning, Rose,
And High above The Reeling Globe,
Amidst the Spires of Fallen cities,
Above the Trenches carved by War,
The Sluggish Rivers
And the Radioactive Tangle,
The Jungle Of Broken Dreams,
Fallen kings,
Wretched offal,
Empty Thrones,
Skyscraper sarcophagi,
Statues without Limbs,
Collapsed colleges,
Abandoned Treasuries,
Above the Vanished God,
And the Thousand, Thousand Scimitars,
The Broken Desert,
And all the Rabid Stars,
It spent Itself in Glory and in Flame;
A Glory that would last A Hundred Years!
A single Fragrant Explosion!
The Hiss of a Billion Scarlet Candles!
The Scent of Sandalwood and Green,
The End of the Nightmare
And the Genus of the Dream.
And as The Phoenix Blazed and Sang,
The Listener lost her Frail and Tenuous Grip,
And The Listener Fell a Million, Tortured miles to Earth,
And as She Fell, She Heard the Sacred Phoenix Utter,
In a Voice of Speeding and Elation,
Freedom and Forgetting,
And Sovereign, Orgasmic Burn,
The Haunted Correspondence
Of a Rapture
Eternally Lost,
"I Shall Not Return."
The eagles Soared and to the Aether cried,
And all the Hosts of Hunger and of Blood;
The Jackal Members and The Flies,
Began to Writhe, and Snarl, and Pant,
And slow Advance with Fetid, Yellowed Eyes
From Cave, and Lair, and Fallen Den
Towards The Listener and the God,
And as They came
They stopped, and searched the Looming Hills,
And in the Corners of their mouths
They carried Poisoned Spit and Flesh,
And Dread, and Hate,
And Truth and Lies.
The Listener stared upon their Throng,
(Saw nothing but The Darkness come)
And all her Visions Lightly Fled,
And with them took the Lambence,
And the Frail, Residual Light,
And Wrapt the Face of the God from view
Forever in the Icy Ground;
The Treacherous and Shadow'd Mud,
And yet, she Heard The Evil Host, and then,
Stumbled Forward and began to Hasten
She knew not Where
Across that Vast and Wild Expanse.
And then the eagles Dropped like Stones
And came to The Feast Of Wounded Prey
To Eat, to Rend, to be Appeased
Upon All that Lived,
All that Breathed,
The Last Remaining Mortal Morsel
Of the Vanquished Human Sea.
But Now, upon The Hills
There shone a Dimmed and Hopeful light!
And the Air filled with the Song of Burning Wings
And Delight.
The Ravening eagles paused, and swiftly Fled away,
And all that Wanton, Slavering Host
Arrested Movement, shivered Back,
And The Listener gazed into the Endless, Nuclear night,
And wiped her Blistered Forehead and her Sightless eyes,
And listened Enraptured and Forlorn,
To the Phoenix in its Wheeling Bliss;
She felt the Fire of its Kiss!
And mounted on its Hallowed Wings.
And then, before that August Grace took Flight,
Its Clarion Prayer filled All The Dome, and
The Listener wept, and then She Thought
That there was Hope.
And then The Phoenix, Burning, Rose,
And High above The Reeling Globe,
Amidst the Spires of Fallen cities,
Above the Trenches carved by War,
The Sluggish Rivers
And the Radioactive Tangle,
The Jungle Of Broken Dreams,
Fallen kings,
Wretched offal,
Empty Thrones,
Skyscraper sarcophagi,
Statues without Limbs,
Collapsed colleges,
Abandoned Treasuries,
Above the Vanished God,
And the Thousand, Thousand Scimitars,
The Broken Desert,
And all the Rabid Stars,
It spent Itself in Glory and in Flame;
A Glory that would last A Hundred Years!
A single Fragrant Explosion!
The Hiss of a Billion Scarlet Candles!
The Scent of Sandalwood and Green,
The End of the Nightmare
And the Genus of the Dream.
And as The Phoenix Blazed and Sang,
The Listener lost her Frail and Tenuous Grip,
And The Listener Fell a Million, Tortured miles to Earth,
And as She Fell, She Heard the Sacred Phoenix Utter,
In a Voice of Speeding and Elation,
Freedom and Forgetting,
And Sovereign, Orgasmic Burn,
The Haunted Correspondence
Of a Rapture
Eternally Lost,
"I Shall Not Return."
{telophase}
Ten Thousand, Thousand Scimitars,
Curved like Gleaming, Deadly Moons in Desert Sands,
Stand like Testaments in Pain.
Beside each blade,
A Severed Thieving Hand is laid,
Its Digits Splayed and clutching Windy Grit...
And far Beneath the Vacant Desert,
Fathoms below the Sanded Sea,
Another Bubble Rises and Spills,
And Molten with a Dervish Glee,
A Moving Finger Writes,
And having Writ its Plague moves on,
Unheeding in its Blasphemy.
And There upon The Frozen Sand
A Word is Writ and clearly Seen;
The Word is Gasoline
Curved like Gleaming, Deadly Moons in Desert Sands,
Stand like Testaments in Pain.
Beside each blade,
A Severed Thieving Hand is laid,
Its Digits Splayed and clutching Windy Grit...
And far Beneath the Vacant Desert,
Fathoms below the Sanded Sea,
Another Bubble Rises and Spills,
And Molten with a Dervish Glee,
A Moving Finger Writes,
And having Writ its Plague moves on,
Unheeding in its Blasphemy.
And There upon The Frozen Sand
A Word is Writ and clearly Seen;
The Word is Gasoline
