Lucifer’s wife
I’m waiting on my severance pay And the gallows of the moon When all you can say is I don’t care Please, please go away What did you think I would do? Did you think I would swoon? Or drown in a lake Honey, I don’t care for all your cheap-talk Darling takes a long walk all by your lonesome Maybe the morning crickets will love you and cry But-me I wish you would die Please, please go away What did you think I would do? Did you think I would whisper a fugitive’s-prayer? Wish-you’d return a changed man No longer cruel or mean, please, Please, please go away stop standing there I’ve spider’s webs have better fair With half-broken snare honey, what do I care? I’m waiting, batting my blue soul-redeeming eyes. But all my faults are my own faults that’s-no-surprise And I am listening to all you say But have some heart for a yard dog’s bark Throw him a bone when he’s whimpering And he’s nowhere to steer, and the missed is closing in. I’m waiting on my severance pay And the gallows of the moon But I’m stubborn I’m dogged I won’t throw in the towel I’ll be happy with Lucifer’s wife And darling evens you. A thousand-different-ways I’ll tread these hills a thousand-different-ways And catalogue every river and climb every mountain I’ll turn every boulder and cross every crossroad A little bit happier now I’m finding my way. I’ll stop and talk to the gipsy woman and buy her heather I won’t tread any more fearful than if you entered the room And the whole of nature held its jealous breath I’ll wash down my throat with water and bread And thank the lord that I’m going to your bed. I’ll burrow down with my beautiful My, how beautifully blessed are my eyes they’ve never-seen-better days my, my cup is flowing overflowing because there’s an angel at my table and, she doesn’t-bark, she just-sings-like some heavenly skylark. I’ll enter the dark because there’s an ember spark and I’ll map every acre of god’s creation for you just to see those fireflies in your eyes looking back at me. I’ll swim every river, lake and sea I’ll cross every desert before I pass away and know I’ve been saved, and I’m second-sighted and “prophetic thunder” he can only wonder what I’ve done to deserve a woman like you. The Lord of Catchers-Can In the isles of a gutter In the dim-lit graveyard of a church A man must walk forever With beggar's bowl in hand And succumb to all the rough bad weather A man can withhold, understand. The Lord of Catchers-Can Is both a shepherd and a man From a palm of dust; father's the waters of the land. And hails the wheat & barley to either fall or stand. Into these storm drains of heaven A dream is, washed away Like the rains of yesterday. A holy man sojourning for a little while came And then was gone Where no such earthly vanities belong And blessed us in one name In the light of the eternal flame All sinners are likewise the same. The Lord of Catchers-Can Is both a shepherd and a man From a palm of dust; father's the waters of the land. And hails the wheat & barley to either fall or stand. It's here I've heard it said We pay for the eyes of the dead In the living hearts and souls left To do, our living, to do, our living, when we're dead So take my hand, And-let-us-all-understand, The ways of the Lord are yours and mine to command, For every child, woman or a man. The Lord of Catchers-Can Is both a shepherd and a man From a palm of dust; father's the waters of the land. And hails the wheat & barley to fall, and stand. Bio: Mark Andrew Heathcote is adult learning difficulties support worker, he has 200-plus poems published in journals, magazines, and anthologies both online and in print, he resides in the UK, from Manchester, Mark is the author of “In Perpetuity” and “Back on Earth” two books of poems published by Creative Talents Unleashed.
Fevers of the Mind 