Mongrels and Misfits

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by Beth Patterson


  Love is a wayward mongrel, stealthy, but can be captured with wile

  Company changes and plans give way

  I will lift you oh, so slowly

  Comfort is always a thought away

  I will hold you in my mind

  All I can offer is sympathy

  I will lift you oh, so slowly

  Would that I could give a piece of me

  I will hold you in my mind

  I looked in the glass this morning

  And I saw that I was smiling

  Almost didn’t recognize myself

  So foreign was my tone

  Love had stared me in the eye

  Like some prehistoric creature

  That I never knew existed

  I had only seen its bones

  Because we click

  Through thin and thick, absurd and sick

  So in love, it just might be a crime

  So take your pick

  A luscious life of trading licks

  And we’ll live sappy ever after for all time

  Because we click

  When all hope is waning

  Is when thoughts are entertaining

  And the gem cast to the shadows

  Is the seeker’s priceless find

  If we are indeed discordant

  I say it’s not important

  For my cup, it overflows

  And blessed be the tie that binds

  Because we click

  Through thin and thick, absurd and sick

  So in love, it just might be a crime

  So take your pick

  A luscious life of trading licks

  And we’ll live sappy ever after for all time

  Because we click

  Spin rings into orbit

  And chase a golden comet

  Where the moon is all yours to explore

  I will make you see stars

  I will feed you a rainbow

  You will quench your thirst on me forevermore

  Between the push of gratitude

  And pull of disbelief

  I am suspended in midair

  And I don’t know which way to go

  For levity becomes you

  And my senses take leave of me

  My fever runs so high

  I am consumed by vertigo

  Because we click

  Through thin and thick, absurd and sick

  So in love, it just might be a crime

  So take your pick

  A luscious life of trading licks

  And we’ll live sappy ever after for all time

  Because we click

  The embers on the drying grass, the calm before the storm

  The stillness of the glacier before the waters warm

  The lioness retaliates when harm comes to her pride

  The grizzly far more dangerous with an arrow in her side

  Coiling, coiling, coiling, coiling

  Action potential can never be ignored

  Coiling, coiling, coiling, coiling

  The villain falls from power, the balance is restored

  It’s when the spark ignites the grass or the storm destroys the path

  And when the shock wears off the mind, it’s when you face its wrath

  The rattlesnake must coil at first before she strikes and slashes

  And friction comes between the clouds before the lightning flashes

  Coiling, coiling, coiling, coiling

  Action potential can never be ignored

  Coiling, coiling, coiling, coiling

  The villain falls from power, the balance is restored

  A ticking time bomb tension winding tightly like a spring

  The arrow nocked into the bow, the tautness of the string

  The pressure mounts within the earth before the crater cracks

  The cornered creature sounds the call before instinct attacks

  Coiling, coiling, coiling, coiling

  Action potential can never be ignored

  Coiling, coiling, coiling, coiling

  The villain falls from power, the balance is restored

  Within our species’ origin is a flat-screen empathy

  To ensure our hearts are shielded from the horrors that we see

  We survey the gruesome images projected in our minds

  And thank the powers-that-be that tragedies don’t happen to our kind

  Now some civilians of the world reach out in selflessness

  And some will blame the victims and revert to prejudice

  If I have lain in ignorance on a bed of apathy

  Then I have slain my principles of basic humanity

  Come hell or high water, to me they are the same

  Come hell or high water, and the land has been reclaimed

  While my Louisiana home is devoured by the rain

  I don’t know why I seem to be chosen to remain

  Number nine is the ward, and is the deepest pit of hell

  In the city that care forgot, abandon hope, all ye who dwell

  Our turf becomes an underworld, and Hades our domain

  And roving packs of miscreants by our lakes of Pontchartrain

  I don’t feel like a survivor, I’m just too tired to fight

  I don’t feel like a refugee, more like a parasite

  I thought survival was a triumph, defiantly raised fist

  But I just feel lost and scared, and all I do is just exist

  Come hell or high water, to me they are the same

  Come hell or high water, and the land has been reclaimed

  While my Louisiana home is devoured by the rain

  I don’t know why I seem to be chosen to remain

  It was one August morning

  I bid New Orleans adieu ...

  Last night I kissed my enemy, and learned of my true friend

  The loss of this dark paradise too deep to comprehend

  Comrades and relations now scattered by the squall

  Dispatched and dispersed, like the forbears of us all

  Now I should count my blessings, or just try to lift the curse

  But I feel more guilt than gratitude, for others had it worse

  As the phoenix rises from debris; waterlogged, not burned

  Just like my friend, I’ve been to hell, and indeed I have returned

  Come hell or high water, to me they are the same

  Come hell or high water, and the land has been reclaimed

  While my Louisiana home is devoured by the rain

  I don’t know why I seem to be chosen to remain

  Suddenly ... it all seems so clear

  Every lyric is relevant

  Every poem is pertinent

  To me, and it is my deepest fear

  Self-deprecating as I am, shame I don’t crave punishment

  And I am just ... a poor depiction

  I’m the weak link in the chain

  A mere pinky to your brain

  And the sting of my lash is only fiction

  But I have seen the tears of innocents, and not without innocent strain

  So I step up to the challenge, face my fate like some brigade

  Accept my sentence, and feign I am not afraid

  Whether truth or mere charade

  Throat to the blade, I will never crossfade

  There is a goddess ... I view her creation

  I covet them with guilt

  Where my own blood has been spilt

  The sun, moon, and stars her congregation

  I will transform myself into a star, demand that my temple be built

  Til then I imagine ... h
ow it feels

  The forbidden taste of brilliance

  At the risk of rent resilience

  Silently grieving for my shattered ideals

  And the isolated hermit can still win the hearts of millions

  So I step up to the challenge, face my fate like some brigade

  Accept my sentence, and feign I am not afraid

  Whether truth or mere charade

  Throat to the blade, I will never crossfade

  Lights dim, curtain rise

  There can be no compromise

  All weakness I forswear

  I will be no less prepared

  Well, I know I will stand and deliver

  Waiting in the wings for my cue

  Taboo

  My love for you

  This mask of comedy

  Conceals my fantasy

  Of how life would be if you were mine

  Your presence my anodyne

  Well, it’s hard to imagine an outcome

  That carries no crisis in tow

  I know

  On with the show

  My thoughts reprehensible

  And I’m trying to be sensible

  Consumed by your radiance

  So afraid of the consequence

  Well, I hope for as long as we have it

  That someday we can have it all

  Enthrall

  Curtain fall

  Sometimes when life throws you a curve

  You think it’s less than you deserve

  But you’ve got to hold on and see what’s in store

  We’ve all got some crossroads to bear

  But if you pause to wonder there,

  You might find that it’s better than before

  Silver stars in smoky bars

  The sound of Argentine guitars

  Oh, life throws you a curve

  Life throws you a curve

  Sometimes when life throws you a curve

  You hold fast and refuse to swerve

  But you’ve got to stop, reflect, and count your tears

  For fate so often has a twist

  But ask yourself why you resist

  It might be the very reason for your fears

  Raising sights to greater heights

  A jaguar stalking in the night

  Silver stars in smoky bars

  The sound of Argentine guitars

  Oh, life throws you a curve

  Life throws you a curve

  Nothing you can do to change the force of nature’s plans

  Only stop to see what sort of gift is in its hands

  Sometimes when life throws you a curve

  You seize the moment to preserve

  But you’ve got to lose the fear that it won’t last

  For there’s only here and there’s only now

  So shake down from your worried brow

  The phantoms of the future and the past

  Flowers bloom beneath the sea

  A tiny goddess running free

  Raising sights to greater heights

  A jaguar stalking in the night

  Silver stars in smoky bars

  The sound of Argentine guitars

  Oh, life throws you a curve

  Life throws you a curve

  Life throws you a curve

  I am a figment of a temporary fancy

  A singing swan, a child of Lir in flight

  That must be the reason that still I curse the dawning

  Will you dance this set with me just for tonight?

  Step into the ring for just a moment

  The craic is good, and no one here knows my face

  Identity dissolves within the circle

  For words that must not be spoken, only vibes replace

  Kind reverence in a flute so lofty and liquid

  And rhythm like the beating of a heart

  Simulates the warning sound of thunder in the distance

  And when it stops, the pulse is torn apart

  Oh, heart’s delight, this is both curse and blessing

  I can see it swiftly coming on, too mesmerized to fight

  Like two golden headlights in the road upon me

  Hawk’s eyes on a paralyzed rabbit in the night

  Sometimes our ambitions only lead us to confusion

  There are things we would attain at any cost

  And when our virtues finally tear us from the clutches of delusion

  There are tales we leave unspoken, and borders we don’t cross

  They always warned me, be careful what you wish for

  Not knowing inspiration could do ill

  And later someone cursed me, may you get just what you wish for

  If I cannot have a way, I have a will

  This happens for a cause beyond my knowing

  Just dance with me tonight and leave your reasoning behind

  The rhythm underlying stops come morning

  From then we live forever with our differences in kind

  Sometimes too much perspective

  Is more dangerous than none

  Sometimes a lofty pedestal

  More deadly than a gun

  A shining adulation

  That you yourself create

  Can be the deadly blindfold

  That seals your self-made fate

  Don’t go there

  It’s where angels fear to tread

  Don’t lose yourself in fantasy

  You’ve got to keep your head

  Learn the rules as you go along

  Blindfolded and spun around

  Dangerous things

  They all abound

  Sometimes a frivolous game

  Is more treacherous than war

  So choose your battles carefully

  And games to just ignore

  Sometimes great expectations

  Can hurt more than the lash

  Sometimes a single candle

  Can reduce a tower to ash

  Don’t go there

  It’s where angels fear to tread

  Don’t lose yourself in fantasy

  You’ve got to keep your head

  Learn the rules as you go along

  Blindfolded and spun around

  Dangerous things

  They all abound

  Sometimes wishes are more potent

  Than curses flung in ire

  And sometimes they are twice as jinxed

  When forged in passion’s fire

  So be careful what you wish for

  Or the dreams you might reveal

  In the long run they may haunt you

  And distort your true ideals

  Don’t go there

  It’s where angels fear to tread

  Don’t lose yourself in fantasy

  You’ve got to keep your head

  Learn the rules as you go along

  Blindfolded and spun around

  Dangerous things

  They all abound

  Darlin’, please come and sit down beside me

  You know how long we’ve been together

  Lately I’ve been thinking about what I really want

  And it’s something that would last us forever

  Everywhere I turn, I see women with strollers

  They’ve got tiny bundles from heaven galore

  Their lives are now complete with the patter of little feet

  It’s an issue I can no longer ignore

  Oh, darlin’ please, would you do one thing for me

  For I’m tired of always thinking about fertility

  It’s the ul
timate gesture of complete gallantry

  Darlin’ please get that vasectomy

  Every morning I can hear little kids screaming

  In the restaurant, always one who kicks my chair

  Sometimes a little angel nearly knocks down my mic

  After sticking wads of bubblegum in my hair

  Well, I know you’re protective of your Big Jim and the Twins

  But it takes a real man to wear such a scar

  Your sperm count would be zero, but you’d always be my hero

  And you’d have something to show your friends at the bar

  Oh, darlin’ please, would you do one thing for me

  For I’m tired of always thinking about fertility

  It’s the ultimate gesture of complete gallantry

  Darlin’ please get that vasectomy

  Darlin’ please get that vasectomy ...

 

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