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Lizard Man
When I heard that
Eazy Engleman had fallen from a cliff to his death I thought of his
parents and as a parent myself I knew that if this happened to one of my
children I would feel a grief so large that I couldn't conceive of how I
could ever put it behind me.
It made me feel like just going home, locking my door and never going out
again.
And yet, this can't be.
Everything that is given
is given to be transformed.
This poem is my own effort to transform that grief that I myself felt
at this death which seemed so senseless, so unfair.
The Lizard Man is a personification of death, particularly the accidental
death of young people.
Standing wave in
water,
wind in the cottonwood trees.
Sun makes a fire on the river,
Stand and listen to the blowing leaves.
The Lizard Man comes,
then he goes.
Death freeze our hearts,
Then our hearts overflow.
Lizard man say: Run, run,
as fast as you can.
You can't catch me
''cause I'm the Lizard Man.
You see him in the shadows,
got a gold stop watch in his hand.
His ivory teeth, they flash like lightning.
Ain't nothin' much to understand.
No, Mr. Lizard is never late.
He's always right on time.
His eyes are cobalt blue,
& they got that death-light shine.
You see that cold black shadow
You know that its a sign
Death agent knocking at the door
And someone just ran out of time.
He's the dry bone man.
Stone crystal brain.
He ain't got no mercy
and he ain't got no shame.
He's the agent of shadows.
He's truly outrageous.
He's always slow turning
them death-book pages.
Oh Mr. Lizard, he's got
a cold cold fire in his brain
and in that fire is written
a long long list of secret names.
He's got a crippled leg.
He's got a crooked face.
Got a hollow stomach.
He's a very hard case.
Mr. Lizard!
Mr. Death!
Dirty mouth!
and poisonous breath!
And the steel lizard wind,
is as hard and wild as truth.
And its gonna knock down our walls
and break in our roof.
The Lizard Man!
The Lizard man!
He eats little children
& shits hot sand.
He stinks like death
and he looks like hell.
When he gonna comes,
you just can't tell.
He's unlucky
& he's random;
he's a twilight rider,
God damn him!
Lizard man
slides by the wall
don't take no for an answer
'cause he wants it all.
He got mean ol' eyes
and they suck up light,
the shadows falling fast
to the left & right.
Oh the Lizard man
he brings us the gift of grief.
He got an iron grip
& blue-steel teeth.
Leave you with nothin'
but an empty machine
shattered glass,
& stiletto dreams.
He'll tear the baby
from the mother's breast,
He'll tear lovers from each other,
He'll tear East from West.
Oh Lord, that Lizard man
wearing a sky-blue suit
cold-steel man gonna steal
another good tooth.
Oh Lord, the Lizard man
beautiful sky-blue suit.
Old man gonna squeeze the breath
out of another shining youth.
Oh that Lizard man
he makes a fool of love.
He violates all our dreams
with his cold steel glove.
His face is hot like the sun,
His eyes cool like the moon,
His cheek soft as a baby,
Tongue sharp as a razor wind.
Lord, lord . . .
he's gonna drive me wild.
If he don't take me,
he's gonna take my child.
Lizard man,
he got cold hands.
Lizard man,
he got cold cold hands.
He's an old planet man,
strong vibration;
he's an old planet man
from the blue-stone station.
Lizard man,
he's bad bad news
Lizard man make you sing
the stone-cold blues.
He is full of emptiness,
Nothing but emptiness,
emptiness,
just emptiness.
Nothing to tell.
Nothing to confess.
Nothing but that
stone cold emptiness.
Empty heart,
empty pocket,
nothing' in his hand
but a dry-bone socket.
Standing wave in water,
wind in the cotton-wood trees,
sun makes a fire on the river,
Stand and listen to the blowing leaves.
The Lizard Man comes,
then he goes.
Death freeze our hearts,
Then our hearts overflow.
Say: Run, run,
as fast as you can
you can't catch me
'cause I'm the Lizard Man. |
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