Beastie
From early days of infancy, through trembling years
Of youth, long murky middle-age & final hours
Long in the tooth, he is the hundred names of terror ---
Creature you love the least. picture his name before
You & exorcise the beast.
He roved up & down through history --- spectre
With tales to tell. in the darkness when the
Campfire's dead --- to each his private hell. if you look
Behind your shoulder as you feel his eyes to feast, you
Can witness now the everchanging nature of the beast.
Beastie
If you wear a warmer sporran, you can keep the foe at
Bay. you can pop those pills & visit some
Psychiatrist who'll say --- there's nothing i can do
For you, everywhere's a danger zone. i'd love to help
Get rid of it, but i've got one of my own.
There's a beast upon my shoulder & a fiend upon
My back. feel his burning breath a heaving, smoke
Oozing from his stack. & he moves beneath the
Covers or he lies below the bed. he's the beast upon
Your shoulder. he's the price upon your head. he's
The lonely fear of dying, & for some, of living too.
He's your private nightmare pricking. he'd just love
To turn the screw. so stand as one defiant --- yes, and
Let your voices swell. stare that beastie in the face
And really give him hell.
