Message from God

This is a message
for no one in particular
and everyone in general

Please continue
to love each other
just like I love you

The self-arising subject and object
is nothing but
the power of the baseless truth

The anger of the demon souls
is nothing but
the mirror of their wisdom

The hunger pains of those
tormented by desire
is nothing but
their clear discrimination

All creatures
animals and humans
find peace abiding in the dharmadhatu

Pip Squeak

Mrs. Hen sat on her eggs
She felt a little sick
So she got up to stretch her legs
and gave her eggs a kick

And when she kicked her babies thus
she heard one baby squeak
(She thought) Is he some kind of little mouse
who has a little beak ?

Now this strange noise alarmed the rooster
He came rushing in
(He said) My God has someone burst the booster ?
What a dreadful sin !

Now what's a booster you may ask
but that you'll never know
Even chickens need a mask
to make their babies grow

When Mrs. Hen returned to find
such pandemonium
She told them all well never mind
and pecked them on the bum

(She said) I'm your Mum and he's your Dad
and you're our little chick
and yes I am so very glad
my booster burst so quick

If you want to be my son
learn how to chirp and chip
We'll eat some corn and have some fun
I think I'll call you Pip

Now mice squeak that's how they speak
(and I'm) sure that's very nice
But you're a chicken with a beak
so please take my advice

Learn how to make the sounds we make
like other chickens do
Now if you don't I hate to say
what may become of you

So Pip grew up to be a man
He struts around the yard
He acts just like a cockerel can
but finds it very hard

You'll see him in the morning light
standing on the gate
(and even though) his parents warned him
he still makes the sound they hate

He squawks in the morning
just like his father's son
but in the evening then he'll squeak
just for a bit of fun

(He says) My parents taught me very well
how I ought to speak
But now you see I'm all grown up
sometimes I like to squeak

(So if you think) It's all gone quiet
(Then take care) 'Cos like a proper rooster
I could start a farmyard riot
(I could) Really burst the booster

And what's a booster you may ask
but that you'll never know
Even chickens need a mask
to make their babies grow

My parents taught me very well
how I ought to speak
But now you see I'm all grown up
sometimes I like to squeak

Frank & Jack & Stella

My life began with a shock
a bolt out of the blue

I like a drink or two
'cos I don't know
what else I ought to do

----

Part of me says yes
and part of me says no

Sometimes I get the feeling
and sometimes the feeling grows

----

But when I have a drink

That's when
I think I ought to know

----

Some believe in God
because they're made in His image

But I was made by someone else
just like a bacon sandwich

----

I know I'll meet my maker
'cos I'm just made of meat

That's dead meat on the slab
and odd bits of legs and feet

----

So I've been looking
for that man

They say he has my name

They call him
Doctor Frankenstein

Yes he's the one to blame

----

And when at last I find him

You know
I'll ask him this

Why do I like
to drink so much
and go out on the piss ?

----

Is that really how you made me
with the kiss of life ?

By drinking from the bottle
for a life without a wife ?

----

Or was it just a wind up ?

The turn of a screw
that put me where I am today

That's what I'd like to ask you

----

Why do you make these monsters
who haunt the night time streets ?

Of all your friends I think
there's just two I'd like to meet

----

To go out on the town
sometime would make my life complete

One night with Jack and Stella

Now that would be a treat

----

That's Jack as in Daniels

Jack Daniels I presume

And Stella
he comes with her
when they walk into the room

----

You might ask me why I love them so

But really you should know

They make me smile when I feel sad
and give my face a glow

----

Why don't you
say you're sorry now ?

Why don't you stop to think ?

I go out with Jack and Stella
'cos that's what I like to drink

----

I could tell you all my story
but I don't know where to start

Two shots of Jack or half a pint
of Stella Artois ?

----

Mary Shelley wrote about me
when she put me in her book

You can read all about it
if you want to take a look

----

But no one knows
how it goes

In the end for Frankenstein

Did he stick to beer and bourbon
or just have a glass of wine ?

----

I think you'll know the answer
when you hear us sing this song

'Cos nothing gets you drunker faster
than the drink that is too strong

----

So I went out with Stella
and somehow we made it home

We left old Jack where he was
just drinking on his own

----

My dear says Frank to Stella

Now I get these awful itches

Every time the rain
gets in there underneath my stitches

----

Jack Daniels is the drink for me

He helps me oil my joints

I could try some other brand instead
but really what's the point

----

This bolt that's in my neck you know
it's starting to get rusty

And when I've had too much to drink

I don't think you can trust me

----

Stella says to Frank one day

Come under my umbrella

Don't go out with that other guy
'cos he's a nasty fella

----

Stay with me

I'll keep you dry
in any kind of weather

Don't break your heart

Don't fall apart

Just keep yourself together

----

Frank and Stella are an item now

They're doing very well

They left poor old Jack behind
just sitting on the shelf

----

'Cos when Frank goes out with Stella
he can't think of no one else

He pours her out of her can
and drinks to her good health

----

He'll press his lips to the rim

Pull the ring and give a twist

Then pour the liquid out
and drink it down like this

----

Frank goes out
with Jack sometimes

Now he's out with Stella

I've got a few more
cans back home

So what else can he tell her ?

----

They found a load of body parts
and put me all together

That's why I like to go out now
with good old Jack and Stella

----

You know I am a monster

I'm a man of many parts

If you cut me into pieces
then you'd find a broken heart

----

Doctor JD he's my friend

I know he's on my side

I go out with him
then come back with Mr. Hyde

----

That other doctor told me once
that he'd find me a bride

He never did you see

Indeed that's why
I know he lied

----

So I've been looking
for that man

They say he has my name

They call him
Doctor Frankenstein

Yes he's the one to blame

----

And when at last I find him

You know
I'll ask him this

Why do I like
to drink so much
and go out on the piss ?

School of Life

Here's an exception to the rule
that poets don't do well at school

Except on very rare occasions
poets love to play the fool

A wise man who would like to write
takes up his pen and joins the fight

Here's wisdom everybody knows
Poems aren't the same as prose

There's something
in the rhyme and rhythm
wisdom's line is seldom given

In the madness and confusion
of the battle for your soul

Wise men would do well to listen
to the last words of the fool

Who sings of love
and death with vision

Now by God
my song is true

Not by dusty erudition
have I done as others do

But from the heart
by intuition

Now by God
my song is true

Life is the Whore

Life's a bitch

Life's a whore

The devil's in the detail
but we still come back for more

When you get the bigger picture
then you'll see him at the door

Yes the devil is the pimp of life
and life is the whore

----

He only wants your money

He don't care about your soul

You can rot in hell
for all he cares

But be sure you pay him well

A peaceful death

A violent death

Either one will do

The devil's in the detail
and he's waiting there for you

----

So come in to his night club

Come on join the queue

There's plenty like you
who would have her

If he let's them through

----

Just to spend one night with her
they would sell their souls

When the sun comes up
they'll raise a cup

And drink for one and all

But the devil's in the detail

And the detail's very small

----

We love the whole creation

Yes with all our hearts we do

But we've got
a lust for life you see

So what else can we do ?

----

Like so many men before me
you may well hear me say

Oh just this once

You know I think
it will be okay

So let's all have one more drink

Let's drink to happy days

Let's see what life can offer us
if we're prepared to pay

But the price of life
is death you see

That's all she's got to say

----

So life's a bitch

Now you know it

Now you know the score

The devil is the pimp of life
and life is the whore

Laugh When You Cry

-1-

Can you stop a thing
once it's begun ?

Will you promise me
it won't go wrong ?

---

The flesh is weak
but the spirit is strong

We're born
to live in chains
when we're born in this world


-2-

Can you undo
what has been done ?

Can you save a soul
that's been burnt in the sun ?

---

The flesh is weak
but the spirit is strong

We're born
to live in chains
when we're born in this world


-REFRAIN-

If life
is an endless
fight against boredom

Then why in the world
would I want to come back ?

---

'Cos the past will always
be there to haunt us

That's why I find it
so hard to relax


-CHORUS-

Sometimes I feel
I can't take no more

---

I hope I can still
pray when I die

And I hope we can learn
to laugh when we cry

On the Path

First you see
you're on the path

Last of all
there is no path

But now we have
to play our part

Dressing up and rehearsing
for the dress rehearsal

----

That's how it goes

It's all a show

Times will come
and times will go

But now we're
on the path of life

At least that much I know

----

Life's like a stage play
in three parts

The last part's
when you die

But what comes next ?

And dear God
please tell me

Who knows why ?

----

Sometimes we laugh

Sometimes we cry

God only knows
how hard we try

And when we ask him
he replies

Go on

Go with the flow

----

Just play your part
from first to last

There really is
no need to ask

Continue on
along the path

You're bound
to be successful

----

When you don't know
who you are

Or what you've
come here for

When you forget
to say your lines

Be sure you
know the score

Remember that
from time to time
we're tested by the law

These times are nothing
more than that

All's fair in love and war

----

So just go round
and start again

With greater expectation

Remember that this is the path
that leads to liberation

----

First you see
you're on the path

Last of all
there is no path

But now we have
to play our part

Dressing up and rehearsing
for the dress rehearsal

The Fine Delight

The fine delight
that fathers thought

The strong spur

Live and lancing
like the blowpipe flame

Breathes once

And quench-ed
faster than it came

Leaves yet the mind
a mother of immortal song

----

Nine months she then

Nay years

Nine years

She long within her

Wears bears cares
and combs the same

The widow
of an insight lost

She lives

With aim now known
and hand at work

Now never wrong

----

Sweet fire
the sire of muse

My soul needs this

----

I want the rapture
of an inspiration

----

O then if
in my lagging lines

You miss the roll

The rise

The carol

The creation

My winter world
that scarcely breathes that bliss

Now

Yields you
with some sighs

Our explanation

----

This poem is called "To R. B." by Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889)

[p.76, "Selected Poems of G. M. Hopkins", An HEB Paperback POETRY BOOKSHELF (General Editor: James Reeves), first published by Heinemann Educational 1953, ISBN 0435150073]

Rebirth

Go away
then come back

Black near attainment

Eclipse of the sun
by virtue of the secret moon

Tathagata

His body is everywhere

His speech is silent

And his mind is the mind
of clear light
ineffable

Meditation on enlightenment
is both the cause and the condition
of the ultimate attainment of enlightenment

May all beings in an instant now

Attain this perfect enlightenment
of his body speech and mind

Smart Car

I didn't think I'd have to drive
anywhere today

This is my idea of progress

Now they say
the next big thing
will be a car that drives itself

That's a car that takes you somewhere

Soon they'll find a way
to make a car that's even smarter

Off it goes down the road

Off into the future

It's a smart car

It's so smart
it thinks like a computer

This car will reach out to the stars

This car will take you nowhere

It knows
already what you want
before you know you want it

It just
drives itself around
and leaves you where you are

Thinking

Thinking should be done
before or after

And conclusions reached

Or at least some kind of order
brought to the confusion

So that you can
organise your thoughts
around a single point of concentration

Then thought should be abandoned

By total engagement
of body speech and mind

You experience each moment

As it is

And attain this realization

Which naturally arises
with cessation of thought

Allowing thoughts to come
but knowing where to place them

Then to let them go

And then to start again