A GOD OF YOUR UNDERSTANDING
it all went wrong
when they told me to
beg a God of my understanding
to take away my failings
I told them
“there is no God”
they said “no, no, no.
“this is not a religion!
“a god of you understanding!
“a higher power
“it can be a tree a rock
“anything!”
this left me
with an ideological problem
I could not resolve
if I acknowledge the existence
of a God
or a higher power
(be it a rock, a tree, or a man with a beard)
then surely it is my duty
to hate God?
to kill God?
How could I not? when I left rehab
I got higher than I had ever gotten before
I raised the needle and I said:
“this one’s for you, god.”
but god didn’t answer
TWO LOVERS
the two lovers of 60th street
kissing under dysentery brown leaves
tongues like ulcers
furtive, impassioned, dying
kissing against beauty and government alike
while the state staggers, swords
sheathed between once proud shoulder blades
an arrest warrant is issued for god
here is god, he is on “cops”, they are
beating him like an uppity nigger
I am eating kratom and cheering
on a $299 Ikea couch
the two lovers of 60th street
kissing under ulcerous brown leaves
tongues like dysentery
dying, impassioned, we are all
dying, swords issued, warrants pinned
between once proud god blades
and where is god?
he is moldering, entombed
with billy graham and wile e coyote
tongues entwined on gallows street
under godless brown leaves
FAILED REVOLTUONARIES
failed revolutionaries
are of course
the best kind
if I had to be
any kind of revolutionary
it would be a failed one
there is something more
romantic about that
something special
something beautiful
baader meinhoff
the angry brigade
the symbionese liberation army
ill thought out
deadly
beautiful
above all else: stylish
the black panthers
with their berets
and leather jackets
half rock stars
half existentialist heroes
when I was a child
we had the IRA
I liked them at the time
I thought the balaclavas looked
mysterious
I liked the rhetoric
and being an Irish kid
in an English town
it gave me something
to believe in
how sad to realize that
they were just men
like the people they were fighting against;
just men who were interested in jobs,
badges, uniforms,
pensions, the nuts and bolts
of running a country in such a way
as to not upset the feeding trough
successful revolutionaries
of course
are just politicians
and there is nothing
less romantic
than a politician
Tony Oneill's work is available through the following links.
Digging The Vein: www.contemporarypress.com
Songs From The Shooting Gallery: www.burningshorepress.com
Visit Tony's website for information on his forthcoming fall 2008 novel: www.tonyoneill.net
Tony O'Neill books are also available through Amazon.com
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fhH741zy8c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epSld4SzPIw
