Sidcot Swallet – Burrington Coombe Nov 9th 2013

Down, down into the deep

Into the depths of the hills which sleep

Earthly death the temporal bowl

The bowels of the earth

The hell hole

Dark and black

Damp not cold

Warm as bark

From the fires below

Down we go, down, down, down

Down to the depths of the pits dark pole

Rock that’s round, slime and mould

Warm and black don’t lose your soul

Farther back, farther still

Reaches the slack of the Mendip sill

Subterranean rivers run

Inside the place hid from the sun

Farther back and farther still

Runs coal black the rocky gill

Breathes the stone lung

Its wet warmth not chill

Yet eerie stack upon stack the boulders fill

When so far down

Beneath the crown of the hill

When above you lay the weight of a hundred ton sill

What drives you down is an impossible will

It draws you down

To the world beneath

To cavernous clowns

Who hurl your belief

Into echoes around the hideous relief

Where a voice may drown without knowing a grief

Where the fantasy stalactites like acrobats stow

And chastened as sleeping bats roost under bows

Of roofs a thousand feet below

Below, below, to and fro the arches bend and breech the throw

They lend a spectacular frieze

As in a cysteine chapel we fall to our knees

And reach such wonder lust as only heaven must know

A man must be humble, crawl and lower like a snake

Slither on belly, on back on sides between cracks

Around bends without using his eyes

Just feel with his feet

Trust to the unknown

For it is in refusing to accept defeat

That for our greater sins we atone

I thought I had it coming

It was first on the windowsill in my home

That I lie in the sun on a stone slab

And I thought I am Jesus Christ and some

Mystical power came and gave me a jab 

 You might say that I had it coming

That Bodhisattvas had my back

But Karma is a killer and here is the craic

Why does God's voice sound like beat of distant drumming

Or perhaps it's just the sound of pain leaving the body's rack

I knew you later on when we were in High School

The Dalai Lama rose upon my map

I thought long and hard that I might be a monk

But couldn't remove the good book from my lap

And I learnt about redemption and the redeeming God

I learnt about atoning for our sins

And that Protestants think we must earn our salvation

While others think it's all just predestined

You see I thought I had it coming

as a Catholic,

For we all start off with original sin

It means we're predisposed to some evil acts

But we don't have to listen to the devil within

And then I learnt they had it easier in the Orthodox Church

That everyone is born with a clean slate

No problems are inherent and we have free choice

We just better not wait too long to use our voice

Or it will be too late

So I thought I had it coming

But now I learnt it could be reversed

That I am not bridled with inherent vice

That if I follow correctly a protestant work ethic

And always follow other people's good advice

Maybe I'll earn the merit to make it to heaven's gate

And by the power of free will

It may not be too late

Then I heard of the Vedic traditions of India

And it all made sense in a colourful life

Blue demons and Angel figures in a mandala

Revolved in Karmic wheel pinned by a knife

And you walk its edge between life and death

And you must give your thanks with prayer of your breath

And even the Kama Sutra leads like a thread

Of the right path to nirvana

Well I thought I had it coming

Then the Hiniyana gave me hope that I could live

And walk upon the water of the lake of Dharma

And maybe through Karma learn to give

Because what comes around goes around

And we are all incarnated into the living beings we deserve

If kind hearted actions and not harming others

Came top of your list then you'll preserve

Your current status or climb to a hiatus

But hatred and cruel malice you lived by then

you'll drop back down to earth

For Paradise is a place that we all have in our hearts

It's a place that we protect and must serve

Like guards protecting king and queen in the royal palace

We must forgo our dreams in order heaven to preserve

Yes I thought I had it coming then I learnt of God

And Jesus Christ who is love

And I knew just then that he could keep me in his bosom

And I would be forever his peace dove

The voice from the Tower

 I had a hurt that came to me

It came like a roaring flower

It spoke of love's inconstancy

It spoke of love's great power

It let the yelp of timeless plea

That fall like the passing hour

No I said stop in your tracks

Don't fight in the burning tower

More shall calm the raging sea

More shall charge than cower

For hearts are bold on the aging quay

That waits like the rocks turned sour

And salt and kelp flow in my mouth

My eyes they see sea foam

Caught between the north and south

No direction have I home

The love that was strong did turn the key

To unlock the door of the prison

And I saw the prisoner mad to be free

And let him have his freedom

Oh I spent ten years a wandering on

Where the voice of life grew faint

And I heard my heart that called me on

To the canvass I should paint

And love like a lion did roar on

Down the darkened ruins of time

I leant upon the turnstile gate

And drifted to the tower 

Danube Girl

 Danube girl, on the banks of a brand new world

Making waves with your hand shoe twirl

In the sand by the river

Danube girl, I want to swim with you in the curls

Of the water as you dive for pearls, on the bed of the river

Can you hear me, singing through the sea

Did you hear the voices of a Europe that was free

Danube girl, some where upstream, 

Where they make your dreams

Come true like in magazines

Trying find a new world

Tumble Town

 By now I'm almost there

That being the place

Where I can get somewhere

I'm no young man

But I ain't no square

Well by now

I would have thought

You'd have got somewhere

Well I'm doing my best you

Know it's hard out there

DOING YOUR BEST

tO BE fRED ASTAIRE

dANCING WHILE SHE'S SPARKLIN'

oFF IN THE clouded lair

Well, by now I'd have thought

You'd have got somewhere

So what do you want of me

Mr spoon

With your head shining in photography

Of the silver moon

And your legs dipped in the iodine

Of an ionized ocean

Oh where is the irony

In all this emotion?

I'd have thought by now

You'd have got somewhere

I saw you coming up the dirty track

Your wheels were dirty like a cigarette ash

I knew in your coming

There was no going back

It was like the bees humming

Over honey like cash

Now Don't you mistake me

I know where you're from

I've been there myself

I once was a bum

But I don't like your kind

Sniffin' around

So why don't you crawl back under

The rock you've come from

Apples

Word got around
You had stolen my crown
And you began with laughter
And the bees on the thorn
Or the rose on the horn
They sting or they bleed me
After

And the falling apple spins
It does not bear the wind
It does not count the seconds in time
It has left the tree
It has broken free
And it lands on the grassy slope
Near to the father

Waiting for the river

Its way past the time when I ask for it
Come with the mask that fits
In the second hand kit
But kid gloves are it
In the stagnant pool
Where we sit
Like frogs and think of England

Is this it?
She says jump
And I am afraid of getting wet
Afraid of free fall
Of the height of this wall
I am sitting on

But the water must flow
Somewhere
There must be a river to follow
And I see it snake off
Winding into tomorrow
I must go

There were two frogs who sat on a log
Who sang of the birds and the bees
Along came a dog who howled like a hog
Red-faced it knelt on its knees
And I looked for signs in its face
Of intelligence or innocence or grace
And yet it was wearing a mask
I could not detect or trace

(30th January 2019)