All bets are off (2)

 All bets are off

All tinctures too

And the milk is sour

and the bread is like glue

And the body's power has returned to the zoo

Where its animal instincts

Have cut a hole through

The fence

Oh what a thing to do

And the hunters watch

The men in towers

Who call off the search

For the middens two

And maidens lurched

With the carriage crew

As the parrot fell off his perch

And flew back to the zoo

All bets are off

And now I am too

The Gods in the church

Don't know what to do

And the fires scorch

And the torches chew

Up light and darkness

Of the school yard crew

Oh I need a rehearsal to drive on the act

I need a reversal of a graveyard fact

That we all are dying and the museums are packed

With spectators and nurses nursing the artefacts

And sculptures are crowing and cockerels too

And it's all in the not knowing of what to do

All bets are off

And I'm off too

I'm going to church where the sky is blue

And the crucifix is reversed and man is a God

And I walk like Jesus across the seas of sod

But I don't sink through

I don't know what to do

All bets are off

And now I am too

The bet is on

 I bet you did, I bet you spotted

The pig

I bet you potted the dig

With all sorts of paraphanalia

Regally adorned the azures

In blues and pinks

Little tropical sunset

In a mood of long longing

Frog spawning through the hawthorn

In horned devil detail

Of particular garland

Ornately ordained

Conupiscence of arabesque curves

Oh how long, how long I ask you

Now

Must I wait

Under her thumb

 She's got them under her thumb

Oh and all the roses

And the garden hoses

Oh the green grasses and flowers in bloom

And oh they are so well trained

Under her eye's strain

Yes she has them under her thumb

And with her green fingers, she moves like a

feeling lingers, a cloud of pollen

A haze of sun

And all in the rein of

The land girl we're in praise of

Yes she has them under her thumb

To dig for victory, see the stars sing for me

Hear the sound of trumpets at dawn

Raise a model army from the levels

Where folk are barmy, instil the yoke of loyalty

upon someone

Yes she's got them under her thumb

They love her in the salt quays

Where stevendores unload the ferries

See the cargo from the land of the endless sun

No one knows her true name, she carries only her own flame

The ships of a slavery, are rubbed from the sum

And Walking in the graveyard

You'll find her skeleton playing hard

For the piano keys are all under her thumb

And then we saw dragons

Before the flood

And then there were Dragons

And after the time

Of the rolling wagons

And I caught a mouse inside it's wheels

And the mouse did squeak

And the wheel squealed

And the spokes did speak

And the folk did feel

That it was no joke

That life was a wound that would not heal

Because before the flood there were no wagons

Then we started our journey

And it was then that we saw dragons

And St George did come

For we needed a dragon slayer

And saint Joan did hum

As we needed a scale player

And we played down the back of the dragon's keys

And he sang in his scales

But he never scaled me

Because when we were one, we were giants back then

Tall as house and eaters of men

And they sang as they doused their moustaches with wine

Of the sheep that they'd stolen, and then swallowed the swine

But the giants had never before seen a dragon

And wagons were rolling to the westerly horizon

And the days were getting longer, and the clouds were long streaks in blue

And above them soared the dragons that I had looked right through

It had been in a time of mists and of magic

And they swallowed the pill of drug that was tragic

That hazy pot of gold at the end of the rainbow

That cure for the world's soul, that takes happiness out of shadow

And the clouds parted then as the sun burst through

Surprising the giants who had just knawed through

The bones of a pleasant neanderthal man

Who had been operating machinery at a poetry slam

And he got his fingers caught in the web of a spider

And he began to talk and walk like he was an outsider

So soon they cast him out of bounds for the best

And he became a traveller to the grounds of the west

The otters two

 Well I came from the river

And I walked on the land

And the fish were like glitter

All in my right hand

And I saw the otters two

And I saw the otters two

And the brazen brown heron

He bored in pursuit

Of the darting white minnow

That shot from his foot

And I saw the otters two

And I saw the otters two

And parkland was fiery

With the breath of the common man

Who said I claim thee sweet Mary

By the last death I stand

And I saw the otters two

And I saw the otters two

And the Cathedral bells were tolling

Like a rock and rolling sound

And the priest bishop mourning

For the lost souls in the ground

And I saw the otters two

And I saw the otters two

And the cupboard fell over

And on its side did it land

A scraping the plaster border

Which will need a fill and a sand

And I saw the otters two

And I saw the otters two

They were running down the long track

Like sprinters in the high jack

And they raced like two cats

But low down as in attack

And they ignored the running man

They ignored the roadside van

They dived to the lake

And continued their love-make

It was a screeching and a hollaring

And one got a collaring

And he ran off alone through the undergrowth

And I saw the otters two

I saw the otters two

In every wave

Freedom is a distant dream

In every wave it can be seen 

In every wave that hits the shore

You are mine and I am yours

And in every wave I see

The rise and fall

In every wave of yours or mine

The crests that lift or break in line

The Armies come along

To save the people

And the boats they drift on waters calm

The sands they shift in the ocean's arms

And the people stand on the beach hoping

Hoping that every wave won't be the last

That the tide will return, like memories past

And every wave will bring from them a prayer

Singing hold on, singing hang on

Singing help us, singing save our souls

And the SOS is written in the sands

So it may be seen by ships that stand

Way out in the far reaching horizon

And every wave that breaks the line

That comes in rolling on the rocks of lime

Will tell them they are not alone, but time

Time alone will save them

As the clocks that tick their seconds past

And the sands which fall through the glass

The people know that the sea is ageless

But its waves are wrinkles from the moon

And on the sea's face time stretches and moves

And soon, oh soon there will be an answer

And time's lips which are now pursed

Will open up and and speak their first

That every wave that was sent was a messenger

And the message had no bottle fit, to carry its words

Of sand and grit, but hold on tight and do not quit

For in the end there will be a ship

With an answer

With a rescue

But we must wait, we must wait 

For it

Lady of the lake

 Lay my body down in the reeds

Lay my body down in the reeds

Lay my body down in somebody's town

Lay my body down in the reeds

Give me a straw hat, give me a straw hat

Give me a straw hat, and lay me down flat

Lay my body down in the reeds

Lay my body down in the reeds

Lay my body down in the reeds

Lay my body down

In somebody's town

Lay my body down in the reeds

Lay me down by my sword

Lay my body down by my sword

Lay my body down so I may meet my own lord

Lay my body down in the reeds

Lay me down by the river

Lay me down far from where pigeons quiver 

up where the branches are harsh

Lay me down in soft marsh

Lay my body down in the reeds

Lay my body down in the lake

Lay my body down in the lake

Lay my body down without a mistake

Lay my body down in the lake

Let me see your reflection

Let me see your every complexion

Let me see your face, oh the one I can't replace

Then lay my body down in the lake

Oh the king is come home to his wife

She is laying down by his side

And they will know no more strife

Not in this nor the next-life

If you lay their bodies down in the lake