HOW YOU FEEL INSIDE
They’ll criticize your image –
all your efforts cast aside,
it’s not about what others see –
it’s how you feel inside.
They’ll criticize your tatty boots –
your old flea-bitten three piece suits,
they’ll slam your purple skin tight jeans –
your underwear behind the scenes,
they’ll roast your cheap and plastic shoes –
your dated baggy flares amuse,
those earrings that never match –
your lipstick smudge and denim patch,
they’ll ridicule your tiny specs –
your Botox and your muscle flex –
complain you’re fat and then too thin –
they’ll taunt your punk rock safety pin,
they’ll mock you in your party shades –
and crucify your tailor-mades,
your tacky bling and pompous tie –
your piercings and stocking thigh,
they’ll disapprove your skirt that splits –
your low cut overhanging tits –
offended by the wet see-through –
your mink fur coat and face tattoo,
your imperfections magnified –
so what? – it’s how you feel inside.
***
THE GUITAR DEVIL
I strummed upon
the riverbank to
serenade a star,
it twinkled back as
if to thank us –
me and my guitar,
and in a black sky
turned to red, the
devil spoke to me
and said –
“hey I heard you
play in hell, you
pluck a mean axe
man – so well,
I play myself a
little too – so
a proposition just
for you,
a six string
challenge competition –
a head to head for
the best musician,
to be the king
of rock n’ roll, just
beat me or I’ll
take your soul”.
His talk was tough
as if he’d won,
I called his bluff –
now bring it on!,
He launched his
flying v machine – an
electric repertoire routine,
he funked the groove
with Wah Wah pedal –
a lightning shred
of heavy metal,
he jazzed it
good in fingerstyle –
the happy chords to
make me smile,
he slapped the bass
with disco dashes –
soloed in flamenco flashes,
each string stroked
with sublime feel –
a delta blues for
my wounds to heal,
with sublime bends
in blurred contortion –
he lit the skies with
flames of distortion,
and then with animal attack –
he played one handed and
behind his back,
he said “you’re done –
I’ve got you beat,
I’m too good man –
you can’t compete”,
I said “you’re good
but you’re not in my class,
you want my soul? –
go and kiss my ass”.
***
REALITY IS OVERRATED (read quickly)
Reality is overrated –
overdone and saturated,
inundated – circulated –
infinitely demonstrated,
reality is overrated –
woke up and I’m irritated,
the cat’s in bed – it urinated –
my omelette cracked and separated,
reality is overrated –
the microwave it detonated,
walls of custard decorated,
the ceiling dripped decaffeinated,
reality is overrated –
the cupboard food is out-of-dated –
nowt but gravy granulated –
the duty free got confiscated,
reality is overrated –
the water pipes contaminated,
my freezing house refrigerated –
the builders never insulated,
reality is overrated –
electric bills and gas inflated,
living costs accelerated,
businesses have liquidated,
reality is overrated –
the NHS is dislocated,
emergencies intoxicated –
two days on a trolly waited,
reality is overrated –
rock n’ roll disintegrated,
fashion genres dissipated,
cinemas evaporated,
reality is overrated –
street crime figures escalated,
no-go zones went armour plated –
prisons overpopulated,
reality is overrated –
birth is unsophisticated,
death is over-dedicated –
dream don’t be assassinated.
