The man who twirled with rose in teeth

has his tongue tied up in thorns,

His once-expanded sense of time and

space all shot and torn.

See him wander, hat in hand --

"Look at me, I'm so forlorn --

ask anyone who can recall,

it's horrible to be born"!



Big Circumstance comes looming

like a darkly roaring train --

rushes like a sucking wound

across a winter plain

recognizing neither polished shine

nor spot nor stain --

and wherever you are on the compass rose

you'll never be again.



Left like a shadow on the step

where the body was before --

Shipwrecked at the stable door.



Big Circumstance has brought me here --

wish it would send me home.

Never was clear where home is

but it's nothing you can own.

It can't be bought with cigarettes

or nylons or perfume

and all the highest bidder gets

is a voucher for a tomb.



Blessed are the poor in spirit --

Blessed are the meek

for their shall be the kingdom

that the power mongers seek.

Blessed are the dead for love

and those who cry for peace

and those who love the gift of earth --

may their gene pool increase.



Left like a shadow on the step

where the body was before --

Shipwrecked at the stable door