Phineas McLinius

Collected writing

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A wise old Irish wizard and a company of mariners journey through war, myth and the cosmos toward remembrance and reunion. Dedicated to J.C. Phillips, Douglas’s dear friend and mentor.

Download the Original Poem (Word) · In Memoriam: J.C. Phillips

PHINEAS McLINIUS

Phineas McLinius
Was a Wise Old, Wizened Wizard
No one Knew how Old he was
But it didn't seem to matter 
But then one sunny afternoon
He fell down from his ladder
That was around the 1st of June
But now it gets a little sadder

A Black Raven was Flying by
He was Followed by a Raptor 
Just then, Phineas Blinked his Eyes
Both Great Birds fell from the Sky
You'd think they were about to Die 
But, they found a New Way to Fly 
Upside down, Diving Low to the Ground
You couldn't even Hear a Sound 

A Thunder like the Sound of Jets 
Fighters coming from the West
It was only the Wind just about to come in
As I Lay my Old and Weary Soul to Rest
I saw Visions of the Virgin Mary 
With Baby Jesus at Her Breast
And the sunset there above the sea 
Reminded me of you and me 

Aye, me Lassie, short and sweet 
This wizard, now before your feet 
My princess, you make my heart beat 
From Riverside to City Street 
Won't you please come home with me?
I'd love to raise a family
I'm sorry if I'm rambling
I was out all last night gambling 

We play lots for lives, and cards and dice 
When we close our eyes, we can see all your lies 
If you treat us all fairly, you have nothing to fear 
But, you might be very quick to get out of here 

In a Forest full of Fairies
And with Elves down in the Glen 
If you are Sincerely Looking
For Yourself, just Now and Then
Let the Magic of the Morning
Let It Sing to you again 
Until you Float around the Bend
Back to your Sweet, Old Hometown of Riverbend

Somewhere in the Distance 
He could see A Thin Red Line
Moving down the Emerald Hills 
Above St. Valentine's
Like a Giant Red, Black Python
From the Borderlands of Time
Our Dear Homeland of Ireland
Where the Water turns to Wine

The Village was not far away 
Just a Klick down in the Glen
My Papa was the Blacksmith
My Mama was a Waitress
I worked the Land at Heatherfield
I was training IRA with the legend, Bobby Seale
There would be no Redcoats 
Outside our Fortress Walls
Our Sentries up above the moat
Could obliterate them all

Phineas McLinius was a Civil Engineer
Northern Irish Military
From the Firebase over here
He had a little run in with his Lord High Overseer
When he refused to Ship a Wooden And
Which was bound for Chanticleer
It took every man he had 
Just to get it out of here

They tried to x-ray  
It was likely lined with lead 
They believed before they went to bed
That they would all be dead 

There were reports of a British officer 
A true knight of the realm
A student of philosophy
With the right and skill to kill
Compassionate executions 
With a blindfold and a cigarette 
The last and final solution 
To a night of deep regret

A brand new constitution 
Would most definitely be required 
They Set the Irish Highlands 
And our Emerald fields on Fire
They come to Plunder, Rape and Steal 
They Extinguish everything
We hold as Safe and Real 
They do this with a British Parliamentary Seal

They Doom us to the Grinding Wheel 
They charge us as zealots 
We definitely plan to Appeal 
They somehow Bomb us without Pilots 
With Warheads made of Carbon Steel 
Our Families must go on the Run
In the Shadow of Another Gun

Socrates or Solomon 
Sexual or Platonic
Hindu, Buddhist, Rashamon
Chemical Particles, Subatomic Photons
Sword of Damocles, Erewhon
Empire Warriors in Feudal Japan
The Clash of their Swords
Hand to Hand, Man to Man

Eons and Epochs
Or just another One Night Stand?
A Knight-Errant Scribe Accepting a Bribe
For my One and Only to Give me her Hand
We've been searching for Lifetimes 
For the Lord’s Promised Land
The battle is Raging, Fire Falls from the Sky 
You and I are Engaging
With a Wink and a Sigh

If you Think you might Die 
Then, you just might be Right 
It's as Good a Night as any 
To Fly into the Light
So far from the Spectacular
Or even the Vernacular
A Timeless Confrontation
And a Forced Evacuation

Command Base Devastation
Scorched Earth Annihilation
The Enemy is in Position
To Terminate their Final Mission
‘Tis the Season for High Treason
Sins of Omission, Sins of Commission
Fermenting like Wine on a Long, Twisted Vine
No Chance we will ever make it Out in Time

Ours is now to Stand and Fight
For our dear Irish Flag at the Dawn’s Early Light
From now until Sundown, then Late into the Night 
We’ll be Paying the Price for our Good Sacrifice
We're all Fire Dancing on the Edge of a Knife
Romancing Necromancer since they Murdered my Wife
Educated, civilized, cultured and erudite 
She Went Down Courageously at the End of her Life 

At that Moment I Swore I would not End the Fight
A hesitant Strategy to put out the Light
In the Darkness, the color is all faded to Black
That's when we Realized there was No Turning Back
It is Said by the Prophet, we are not what we Lack
We're Ascetics who live in a Gunmetal Shack 
We Bury our Children in Black Velvet Sacks
We Bleed Out and Die, but we know God has our Backs

All that you Perceive around you
Is One of but a Handful of Things
If you put your Value in The Riches of Kings
The Devil will Give you almost Everything
If you're willing to work and to shoulder that weight 
You won't be much older when you're lying in state 
That's mostly what I've been trying to say 
Will be Crossing the River by the End of the Day

Prosecutor or Defender
This War is a Never-Ender
From the Moors to the Great Pretender
Never be a Borrower or a Lender
Choose your Wisdom, Wisely
Be Properly Attired, Step Lively 
The Flame that Burns Inside me 
Is the Light I used to Guide me 

It's time to Ready the Battlements 
Up at the Stone Fortress on the Main
We have no Allies anywhere 
Not in England, France, or Spain
The best we can hope for is neutrality 
To harmonize with our mortality 
To reap the rewards into our Golden Valley 
But, keep the gate open and back in the alley 

If you are Hoping to Live Out this Day 
You might just be Groping for a Needle in Hay 
Don't give up Hope, because Help’s on the Way 
We Kneel Down to Pray; We get Ready to Play
“The British are Coming, the British are Coming”
Cried out the Town Crier, the late Paul Revere
One if by Day and Two if by Night
If God Wills it we Run them the Hell out of here

Down at the pub, an Oak Barrel of Beer
A Push and a Shove, and our Fire Line is Clear
There won’t be no Redcoats for to Carry them Home
They all will Die Frozen, Naked and Alone
All Under Orders of Pope John Paul in Rome
Spies under the Tides and in the Catacombs
The Fall of the Empires, The Straits of Gibraltar 
The Sirens are Singing with Voices like Water

A Tapestry of Narratives
Woven with the Finest Threads
A Chemistry of Comparative
Analytics for the Dead
You can't Deceive the People
They See through everything you've said
And, you might just Live long enough 
To be Murdered in your Bed

Bind you up in front of your Wife and Kids 
Punish you for the Terrible Things you did 
A Parchment Scroll Inscribed Herewith
A Silver Quill with a Poison Tip
Your Fingerprint in Blood is needed 
Before the King can be Unseated
And the British Invaders Defeated
We shall Follow no more Leaders 

With our Rapid Fire Repeaters 
And our Knives and our Bombs and our Guns
This Battle should be Lost or Won
Long before the Morning Sun
There's no way to Knowfor Sure 
We might be Rich, but we grew up Poor 
We had to Take everything we Have
Or Face a Date with a Firing Squad 

We had the Nimrod Decommissioned
For Operation Ballyhoo
We put a Little Celebration
Into Everything we Do
At the Re-Commission Ceremony
The Keynote Speaker was a Phony
The whole shebang blue straight to Hell
The Nimitz Went Down before the 1st Ship’s Bell

We Received a Communiqué 
As though it came from our own Grave
That's when our Militiamen
Staged a Raid down in their Cave 
Our Brothers In Arms Pushed Forward 
In the Middle of the Night 
And the Enemy was Conquered 
Before the First Rays of Sunlight

When Solomon didn't go on and Split the Child in 2
It's because the Good King Knew exactly what he must do
He believed that no mother would ever consent
To bring forth such a sad Lament
With 17 tons of cold, wet cement 
And 1,000 Barrels of Bubbling, Hot Oil 
With all of our Weapons and all of our Guns 
It came up on Time for our Duel in the Sun 

Every Man Prays for Forgiveness 
For Himself and for his Family 
A Soldier prays for Deliverance 
And a Chance to Set them All Free 
You must Know it is not a Coincidence
In the Cosmos, there is no such thing
Every Fiber and Particle of what Makes you and me 
Has been Created in Line with Divine Prophecy

Here we Stand at the Threshold of Eternity 
Fulfilling our Role in the Ancient, Sage Prophecy
Nobody's Fool and Nobody’s Property
There is no Stopping what's Inside of you and me
What we know most of all, we know it intuitively 
I'm nobody's Thrall, no matter what you do to me
I can be louder than thunder, or as silent as death
It won't really matter when we lay you to rest

Out in a pauper’s grave, covered with lime 
Your wife gives you a wave for the very last time 
You have no soul to save, and no sweet violet wine 
And there you'll remain until the end of time 

Remus and Romulus, 2 Twins who Founded Rome
8 Centuries before our Lord was Crucified Alone
Our Savior was Gone when they Rolled back the Stone
Across 7 Continents, forever to Roam 
Dark, Evil Passages from Down in the Catacombs 
Satanic Messages by order of the throne 
I see you through the Window
My Love, how you have grown

The Blessings of St. Benedict
The Dark, DaVinci Code
Ain't no one who can like claim
To being King of this Old Road
Somewhere in California 
An Old Man Strikes the Mother Lode
Back in 1849, in Sedona, Arizona
Transatlantic Cables, a Pipeline to the Pope

Claim Jumpers soon caught up with him 
And, on the spot, they did him in
They only dug a shallow hole 
To late to rest his mortal soul
The Non-Existent Curve of the SpaceTime Loop
Like a Tiny Little Lassie with her Hula Hoop
Offers up The Living Proof
It's a Comedy of Errors, a Universal Spoof

Weather Farce or Tragedy
We are not yet so truly Free 
That we can Proclaim our Liberty 
From Poverty and Tyranny
Faraway Islands across the sea
Beckon to me quite incessantly
I Reckon that I will just have to See
What lies Beyond Eternity

A Spiderweb of Depravity?
A Madhouse of insanity 
Or a Peaceful Weir beside the Shore 
In the Heather Fields of Evermore
The Water runs below our Floor 
Two Blood Crosses around our Door
Two Stone Lions at our Front Gate
We know that Paradise won't Wait

We Live in a Community 
Where we are Punished with Impunity
The Big Clock in the Old Bell Tower 
Very Late, almost every Night
Chimes somebody's Final Hour
Heaven's Gate swings slowly Open
As we Bunker Down for a Long Goodnight
We're Immortalized by our Firepower

The People Gather at our Door
We thought we'd never See them Anymore
But, since the Reign of Charlemagne 
We must Abide by the Rules of the Court
We can be Courtiers or Courtesans
Blazing New Frontiers and Paradigms
We’re quite Sure this is the End of Times
And we're about to become Divine

Let them Cross our Long, Green Line
Between St. Valentine's, and St. Adeline’s
We have Dug in a Field full of Landmines
While our Troops Close the Circle 
Coming up from Behind
The Enemy is Surrounded
We are about to Remind them
They’re like Rats in a Trap 

Reviled and Banished
Exiled, then Vanished
Excoriated Vilified
Criminalized, Dehumanized
The Children are so very Wise
See the Sparkle in their Eyes
They See in the Dark
They Light Up  the Spark

As Archers, the Young Ones
Never Fail to Hit their Marks
The Grand Guignol of our Society
We Excuse those Convicted of Piracy
We Pardon the Worst, it is All in Reverse 
Every Line, every Word, they are always Rehearsed
You think it's a blessing, but it's really a curse 
Until it's the Time when you go Home in a Hearse 

Everything around you, Love
As I have said before
Like the 4 Winds, only 4
But, as we've come to Understand
Now, 7 Winds must Take our Hand
It takes more than an Able Man
With Nothing but a Spread of Land
He puts his Woman in Command

All the Wranglers and the Ranch Hands
Some Swam across the Rio Grande
Or came in from Cuba in Wooden Rowboats
Slaughtering and Eating their own Pet Goats

They took a Beating off the US Coast
If you Look at the Ceiling
You'll Think you're Afloat
Your Seasickness has you Reeling
Women and Children to the Lifeboats
The Captain must always Go Down with his Ship
The North Wind at Gale Force
With a Strong, Tidal Rip

You must Realize that you are, Right Now 
Very Close to the End of your Trip 
The way Close your Eyes
It tells meyou're Losing your Grip
You wear a Disguise
But you Shoot from the Hip
You might Trade it All 
For a Kiss on the Lips

A Woman who Loves you
More than all Words can Say
A Lover to Greet you
At the End of the Day
Now, I Beseech you
To just Please Go Away
Because now, we're about to
Turn the Night into Day

Commander Xandra Alexander
Was a former Field Commander
With Occasion to Work as a Free Agent
She'd Steal Intel from the Other Side
Then, she'd Take them for a Ride
Push them so far Deep Inside
They Disappear like an Ocean Tide
And, O, the Tears of Joy we Cried

They Say the River Jordan
Is Cold and Deep and Wide
But Paradise is Waiting
Just on the Other Side
I guess that we should just relax 
And try to enjoy the ride 
Or maybe lie here on our backs 
And watch the Invaders die

Everything around you, all of the Time 
Is Composed of the Simplest of Elements 
Igneous and Metamorphic
The Primordial Ooze and the Sediments
A Brain that stays fully Elastic
Blood Vessels made out of Surgical Plastic
Clogging our Waterways and the Pacific
We Live in the Age of Captain Fantastic

Phineas and Mia, in the Hold, down Deep
Were trying to grab a few minutes of Sleep
That's when they heard the Cannons Open Fire 
Xandra Commanded her Firemasters
To Destroy the Enemy Fleet
Fire came Raining from the Sky
Like an Ultraviolet Lullaby
Wildfire on the Water, we can Hear the Angels Cry

Soft Targets and Mounting Casualties
As we try to Keep the Peace
Back Room Negotiations 
For our Prisoners’ Release
Conditional Regulations
Have been issued by the Maritime Court
Our Mission has been Ruled a Failure 
We are Ordered to Abort

Commander Xandra Alexander 
Has Recorded the Message Band
Her Ship Unrestricted
Unbound by these Commands
We will All be Convicted 
Or on a Victory Stand
Our Ship is Disabled
But in the Grip of Able Sea Hands

It Comes to Be, We Are Not Alone
Commander Xander Alexander 
Xandra's Brother, a Long Way From Home
We are Protected by 2 Twin Full Bird Commanders
Either one of them could be Castor or Pollux
On another Run into a disastrous Bollix
From an Irish Family of Alcoholics
And a fierce, burning hatred for the Catholics

We turn our Ire into a Weapon 
They think they Know what they're Expecting
When our Escorts suddenly change Direction 
And Shepherd us in with Full Protection
Our Vessels will never Pass another Inspection 
Her Days are now Numbered for Good
Her Brass Fittings and her Towering Sails
The Bodies of our Mariners Gone Over the Rails

Farewell to the Dolphins
The Seabirds and the Whales 
Be Gone, the Jolly Roger
Goodbye to the Enemy’s Sails
Torturer, Executioner, the Endless Years In Jail
The Mock Trials and Commissioners
Guilty Verdicts, Without Fail
Time to Listen to The 4 Winds Wail

7 Things you need to Know 
To Survive here in this World 
Alive or Dead, it is often said 
As the Mariner’s Flag unfurls
It might be your Wife and Kids are Dead 
But you still have a Little Girl 
You want her in your Wedding Bed 
But, it's your Chambermaid instead

You don't even know her name
But you'll spend tonight with her just the same
In the end, you'll fight with her, but it's just a game
As the Wizard turns the Sunshine into Rain 
Back on Deck with Phineas McLinius
He Camouflaged himself as The Friendly Village Idiot
He took out Hadley's Quadrant
And then Triangulated Venus

A most Dangerous Trajectory 
Also, Famously, eter6nally 
Another Round of S&D
We'll Burn them Down and Watch them Flee
More Bullets aimed at you and me
More men Dying to set us all Free
There's no Denying that our Present Company
Are Warriors of Excellent Quality

Our Courier, from our German Kin
He took a big Swallow from a Bottle of Gin 
He brought out a Pouch full of Ancient Medicine
Then he Grinned and he said, “Let The Games Now Begin!”
He Swore his Neutrality before he Signed On
He had been Wandering so Far and so Long
He came from a Family from the Harbor at Annalong

A Gregorian Cantor with a Mystical Voice
A recognized Pastor, and a eunuch by Choice
I’m afraid that Pure Celibacy has never Agreed with me
I am Driven by Fires that Ignite me Internally
It's a Free-flowing River of my Sexuality
It's only a Question of Compatibility
Is Fantasy Reality, or is Reality a Fantasy?
I don't have the Answer, so please don't you Ask me

If you try to Board us
We will Take you to Task 
If you even Move toward us
We're gonna Kick your British Ass
We will Admit no one below Rank Junior Class
If you try to Sail by us, we will not Let you Pass
And now, we're Deploying our Barrels of Gas
The Royal British Navy is about to get Smashed

The Rain turns the Fire into Sparks 
Every one of them Alive 
They Land upon the Water 
Like a Kaleidoscope of Butterflies
Just like Living Comet Tails 
When they Fly through the Northern Lights
Intelligence is Everywhere 
It Breathes in the Particles of Air

Contracted or Compacted? 
Socratic or Didactic?
Synthetic or Elastic?
Prophetic, or just Plastic?
Chaotic or Quixotic?
Erratic or Exotic?
Neurotic or Psychotic?
Erotic or Entropic?

The Answer is very Simple
It is Written on the Walls
Of the Anasazi Temple
With their Nepalese Temple Balls
Higher than the Rainbow
Wider than the Canyon
The Parrots in the Banyans
Teach us Peace through Understanding

We were in Sight of the Southern Shore
When we had to Fight a little More
We were Burned down to the Core
Mystic Mariner Listing to the Port 
We had taken a hard Hit Amidships
3 m Abaft of the Beam
Our hold was Filling up with Salt Water
She was Near to a Parallel Lean

The Weather was Turning so Brutal and Mean
We couldn't See anything, even Deep In Between
We were taking on Water at an Alarming Rate
The British were Coming
They were Swarming with Hate
We still Planned on Keeping
Our Date with the Fates
We were Standing up Sleeping

So we would not Hesitate 
When it came time to Stand and deliver 
The Tides shifted round and turned into a River 
All of our Men looked up to the Crow's Nest
They saw Phineas McLinius Stand facing the West
His Hands were Wide Open, way up Over his Head
He was Summoning Something
From the Land of the Dead

Come, Little Children, for it is time for Bed
While Visions of Treachery Dance in your Head
How the Mighty have Fallen to Lay where they Bled
As we Answer our Calling while the Water turns Red
We’ve got One Way Tickets to Paradise
To Cover the Price of our Sacrifice
It might not amount to a Bushel of Rice
While Visions of Valhalla make us Stop and Think Twice

All the Fishermen
Out Working in their Old Fishing Boats 
Mystic Mariner Broken but still Staying Afloat 
No one is Running
To Man the Lifeboats
But the British are Coming
Across our Stone Castle Moat
Rights of Passage Undertaken
By our Royal Lord of Hosts 

The Father and the Mother 
The Son, the Holy Ghost 
Burning up like Boiling Water
All the way Up and Down the Irish Coast
For our Sweet Amazon Grandmother
Our Cherished Ayahuasca Vine
Our Wives and Children Crying
As All our Men are Dying

Ensign Cookie down Below
Has Brewed some Blood Red, Scarlet Tea
He Offers you a China Cup
Then, he Passes it to me
We will see the Face of Gaia
This much I Guarantee
We are Worldly, War- Weary Veterans
And our Home is Upon the Sea

Knights Armored in Chainmail
We can Hear the Winds Wail
As the Waves come Crashing right over the Rail
An Epic Disaster if we should happen to Fail
Our Watchman in the Crow's Nest
Spies a Young, Pure White Quail
As she simply attends to 
Her Final Detail

She Flies up so High
Into the Smoky, Black Sky
In her Terminal Demise
She just Falls Down and Dies 
Way Up in the Air 
A Hole Opens in the Clouds 
Up on the Old, Splintered Masthead 
Our Commanders are Screaming Out Loud

There's no way to Hear them 
In the Din and the Glare
But, the Sins of our Fathers
Left us All with a 1,000 Yard Stare
A Torpedo comes Smashing
Through the Southwestern Wall
Our Hopes and Dreams Crashing
Right in Front of us All

The Anasazi Sacred Writings
Are a Prophecy that came True
In the Emerald Fields of Paradise
When it Happens to me, it will Happen to you
Just now, an 11 Pound Steel Mortar Shell
Hits us for Real and just Blows us to Hell 
We All Hear the Peal of our Final Ship’s Bell
This is the Sound of our Last Fare-Thee-Well

Commanders Xander and Xandra
Of the Alexandrian Court
Put their Wax Imprimatur
On their Last and final Field Report
What do you do to turn on the Light
When you know it's your last 
Do you pray for Forgiveness?
Will you See the Morning Light?

Do you ask for Deliverance?
Try and Make Everything All Right?
Do you Walk Across The Water 
With a Wood Cross in your Hand?
Do you Think you will Remember
How to Reach the Promised Land?
We are Sailing through the Heavens
Ladies in Waiting and Nights in White Satin

The Commanders and Captains
Hold a Round Table Session
The Fate of the Empire is under Discussion
The Great Funeral Pyre is under Construction
It's a Razor Wire Minefield of Epic Destruction
All while the Maritime Court is in Session
Everything Falls if we lose the Election
They'll Cut Off our Balls as a Gourmet Selection

But, oh, the Romance
And The Lure of the Sea 
A Gale Force Weather Dance
Is our Sweet Destiny
We Threw Down our Lines
So that we could be Free 
It's the End of our Tale
Of Good Men of the sea

The Desert is an Ocean 
With its Water Underground 
The Fragrance Lingers Softly
When there's No One Else Around
Step Lively, Gentle Warrior
Don't you even Make a Sound
We’ll be Gone Across the River
When the Sun is Going Down

Red Flag Warnings Rising Up 
In the Streets East of Downtown 
Like when our Patron, Emmett Kelly
Wore the Face of a Sad Clown
The South Dublin Bucket Brigade
Began to turn this Shit into Lemonade
I wish that was the Worst of it
The Court report began, “To Wit….”

A Band of Olde Tyme Mariners
Is Guilty now of Treason 
We've been through their Particulars
And, there Seems to be no Reason
They Abandoned their Command
Committed Perjury on the Witness Stand
Split off from the Waterline
And left their Navy far Behind

A Solution, maybe, comes to Mind
We go back Behind the Fireline
We Dig In and Prepare to Fight
Before the Rising Sun at Midnight
We Hear the Strains of Rule Britannia
Our Warrior Brothers from Pretoria
Seafaring Men from Cape Horn, South Africa
A Crew of Seaworthy Men from Southern Astoria

These Salty Dogs of Endless War
Came about upon the Shore
And Thereabouts, a Waterspout
Came to Life above the Moors
We Cursed the Demons in the Sky
Tell us Lord, we don't Know Why
We are Forced to Say Goodbye
And then to Watch our Brothers Die

Branded now as Mutineers
The last place they should be is here
But we shall leave no Soldier behind
We are Mariners of a Different Kind
The Strangest Things started happening
The Winds were up to 99 Knots
It is Pointless to try to Remember
The Things that God Forgot

He gave us the Cosmos 
And the Love Goddess, Venus 
Then, he Created the Platypus
And made Men think with their Penises
We Welcomed Aboard the Best Irish Machinist
7 Miles Offshore, they put their Ships in Between us
They Fired a Mortar Shell right Across our Bow
Our Watchman Declared that we were Going Down
Just now, through the Air, Comes a Terrible Sound

Our Bodies are Meant to Fit Together
To Meld and Mesh and Move
Our Skin is like our Lizard Leather
For every Tongue there's a Groove
For every Hill there's a Valley
You can Ascend to the Meadow 
Or you can Die in the Alley 
Plant your Seeds and Watch them Grow
 
We are not Meant to be Alive Forever
But, if you ask when we Die 
I'd have to tell you, “Never”
If you feel you need to cry 
I can teach you how to fly
How to Leave this World Behind 
Because, this Whole Place
Lives Inside the Shadows in your Mind 

As to Ourselves, the Human Race
A Parasitic Species
An Alien Scientific Test Case
We Infect our Universities
With a Double Blind from Outer Space
If you Think you’re getting Messages 
From the Ring Around The Moon
You should Read the Ancient Passages
Because the End is Coming Soon

It Started when Thales of Miletus 
The Greek Philosopher and Mathematician
The Author and the Architect 
Of the Industrial Revolution
Following in the Tradition 
Of Pythagoras and Newton
Parallel and Rotary Motion
Hydraulic Energy from the Ocean

A Central Sun & Planet Gear
Factory Power, Quantifying
Flywheels Overhead and Rear
Horsepower to get them Flying
Musketeers are Multiplying
In Compliance with Cosmic Protocol
Hidden behind a Cold Stone Wall

Phineas in the Crow's Nest 
Lashes himself to the mast
The Sun is going down in the West 
And the Mariner is Breathing her Last
Our Escorts try to Stop them 
But they're Coming In too Fast
It's Time for Phineas McLinius
To take these Bastards to Task

He Rages to the Underworld 
“Satan, you She Devil
You Swine before Pearls
You Flea without Dogs
Lightbringer to this World 
I Summon and Command you 
Right Here by my Side
May the Winds come up Around you
And just Blow the Brits Goodbye!”

There was Dead Silence for a Moment
Then, Everything Stopped around us
It took just a Minute Realize 
That the Enemy had Surrounded us 
It seems they were Planning to Wait us Out
That’s what the Scuttlebutt was all about
We plan to let them Think that we're Down and Out 
Then we'll Hoist up a Drink, and we'll Rout ‘em on Out

They Say if you Want Something 
That you should try to Act As If 
Then, let me tell you, Honey
That this Life’s a Golden Gift
To Think that it all Started
With a Single, Little Kiss
Nothing makes me Prouder
Than when you Stand Up with a Fist

Phineas seemed to have Total Control
The Wind and the Water
The Fire in his Soul
His Unreal Magic Powers
From Beyond the Rings of Saturn
With a Fragrant Spray of Lotus Flowers
To Delay our Final Hours
Like Milady in the Tower 

No Bonds and no Breaks among Us to Divide us
The Longer it takes, the more we get Stronger
Don't Think we can't Wait just a little bit Longer
It's said, the Bigger they Are the Harder they Fall
Never try to Deceive the Legends of the Fall
All of this might Strike you 
As a Little Bit off the Wall

Did that Little Bitch of a Princess Take you Off
Did her Little Bit of Incest get you Off?
Did you make love with her slowly 
Did you tell her when she had enough?
Did you lie and say you loved her? 
Did things get a little rough?

Well, now you have a bill to pay 
And you will have to kill today 
We’re due for a Winter Chill Tonight 
You must try to Keep it High and Tight
It's Likely that None of us will Last the Whole Night

We Decided to Kill the Last of our Lights
The Midnight Sun was Shining Bright
Phineas was Clearly in his Element 
As the Sea turned into an Ocean of Wet cem6ent 
Our Vessel was no longer Seaworthy
She was Listing to Portside
And Filling Up quickly 
The Men did their Best
To Control the Situation 
When, from Central Command
A Top Secret Communication

We Logged the Coded  Message
Right Straight Up at 4 Bells
Our Confidence Eroded
As we Felt the Pull From Hell
We now Believe that we just Heard 
Our Last and Final Good Ships Bell
We Heard the Chirping of a Little Bird 
The Churchbell in the Tower Chimed
Not a One of us Spoke a Word
That's when we all Saw the Number 9

It Looked like the Stars were on Fire
We all Heard the Heavenly Choir
We looked up above and saw Phineas
Staring at the Heavens
As if through a Looking Glass
We all Heard the Voices Clash
And we Saw the Faces from our Past
After 13 Years Before the Mast

The Shadows of our Ancestors
Veterans of so many Wars
Ablaze through Space among the Stars
Around the Sun and the Moons of Mars
Hypocrites the Creator of Medicine
Taught us, first above all you must Do no harm
A Man of Extraordinary Measures and Means
He was just an Ordinary Thinker
But, he Understood Binary Systems

He knew that the Universe
Was Nothing but Arbitrary
Nietzsche said, “God is Dead”
But he still Loved our Sweet Virgin Mary
We Heard Phineas’ Voice 
Rising Up Above the Storm
Our Sails were like tattered Winding Sheets
As we Entered the Eye of the Storm 

Phineas raised up his arms once again 
In One, Single Instant, we are Gone once again 
A Vortex of Chaos, a Dead, Baby Albatross 
All Signals and Signs that we’re Losing our Minds 
Much like the Greek Homer's Iliad
Around us, Conditions are Horribly Bad
There's a Cold, Eerie Calmness
Like the Great Ulysses at the Rocks of Gibraltar

Like Lambs to the Grim, Bloody Slaughter 
Till they Die  way down Deep Under the Water
Then they Lie in their Watery Graves
While we Kidnap their Women as Slaves
With no Thought of Changing our Ways
We are Fighting a War in a Daze
As Yesterdays turn into Todays
And the Dead shall Remain where they Lay

You can always Trust a Patriot
To Protect his Country and his Family 
As much as he might Wish 
To Save them and Keep them from Harm 
When it comes to the Last of his Resources 
He'll Watch the Backs of his Brothers-in-Arms
He Figures they are the Best Defense 
That there’s no such thing as Coincidence

That the Little Kids’ Playground
Is Surrounded by an Electric Fence
That this World is a Comedy of Errors
Of Bullets and Poison- Tipped Arrows
When it comes right on down 
To the last few minutes of your life 
You're so deep down in it
You can't reach out to your wife

You made a Commitment
You are in it for Life 
That, my Lovely, and just so Far Beyond 
The End is Nowhere in Sight 
If you Meet your Demise
At the End of a Knife 
Then why did you bring it 
To a High Noon Gunfight?

Can you Hear the Loon
As she Cries Out in the Night?
Can you See the Moon
That is Shining in the Sky?
Do you Hear the Tune
A Celestial Lullaby
The Sirens are all Singing  for you
Does It even still Remind you
Of the Infinite Beginning?

What's that Coming Up Behind you? 
Do you have to Run and Hide? 
With Phineas to Mind you
Till you're on the Other Side
We’re Here to Remind you
Of your Emerald Irish Pride
Remember who you're Fighting for
At the Ending of this Ride

They say that Pride
Must Go Before the Fall 
It is One of the 7 Deadly Sins
Whose Footsteps Echo Down the Hall?
Do you Feel that They are Watching you?
That they Know Everything you Do
I Guarantee that you are Right

The Flames were Falling all Around us
Like  Fractal, Spectral Globulus
We Fell Down upon our Knees
Cuz we Felt the Touch of God With Us
Every Single One of us
All of our Women and Mates 
We Cast our Lots before Poseidon
As we Founder into the Harbor at Calledon

We couldn't See through the Haze and the Smoke 
While the British Fleet Acted like it's a Joke
But the Joker gets Trumped
By the Black Queen of Spades
And all of our Lemons turned into Lemonade
Our Beat Master came up 
From the Slave Hold Below
Said, “The Slaves would rather Die 
Than to be a Part of this Horror Show

I just Looked at him and Laughed
I said, “Hey, thanks a lot for watching my Back”
He Staggered Forward and Stumbled Aft
And then, he just Died of a Heart Attack
You must keep Moving Forward
Don't Bother to Look Back
Because you'll be Underwater
When they Chain you to the Rack

A Man’s Life is made up
Of 3 Important Little Things 
His Legacy, his Epitaph
And the Goodness that he brings
To his Family and his Friends 
And to all that he is Sworn to Defend
He will Courageously Sacrifice his own Life 
To Save the Lives of his Family
And his Beautiful Wife

He will Cultivate the Grace
Of Dandelion Wine 
He will Live out his Life
In the Humankind-made Illusion of Time
He will Bury his Wife and Head off Down the Line
His Work will be Aimed at Advancing his Culture
He will Frame and Reframe
Every Step of the Future

He Trades his Childhood Dreams 
To become a Part of the Machine
He must Swear out his Loyalty
For his King and his Queen
Whether Pauper or Royalty
His Wood Box or Castle is Immaculately Clean
He understands that all things
Are just not what they seem

When I was a Young Boy
My Father sat me down
He was a Man who was always Smiling
But, on this Day, he wore a frown
He said, “My son, I just want to say 
That when your mother passed away 
You stood up like a soldier 
At the Ending of the Day”

I said, “Dad, that's very kind of you
I only did what you would do 
You're the one who taught me 
When that British blackguard shot me
That I didn't have to Worry 
Or to be in such a Hurry 
The World is full of Sanctuaries
You said to Find a Girl I want to Marry”

I think you kind of thought you were
The only one who really knew
The things our Mother did to you
Please rest assured, I knew it too 
When I was 9, I'd spend my time
In the company of dangerous men 
I don't talk of what they did to me
When they took away my Virginity

It was my first month on the sea
I had just turned 23 
I remember there were 5 of them
They were rough and hard and all over me
They said they’d turn me into a man
And then, they throw me into the sea 
I don't remember a whole lot after that
After I heard the clatter of a Gunsel at my back

I thought that I could See the Moon
Spelling out in ancient runes
The Words God said to our Sweet, Young Lord 
When he was Baptized by Water in the Holy Word
The Sirens were Screaming in my Brain
I felt like I was Dying in the Mortal Pain
There was someone on board
Of his own Noble Accord
 
A Gentleman, Scholarly 
So very much more
A True Master Swordsman
With an old Rapier Sword
So Cultured, he was
Educated and Kind

But when he Came at my Attackers
He was Stark, Raving Out of his Mind
He Sliced off their Tallywackers
Then he Spun Around from Behind
The Winds began to Rise again 
The Skies turned Red for the very Last Time
The White Caps nearly turned us over 
It was Time now to Run for Cover

The Scribe went into his Attack Routine
He turned those Jokers into Queens
Like a Samurai from New Orleans
Forsaken in the Land Of In Between
It first came from my Grandmother
Her Name was Susanna O’Donegal
She Lived with the Duchess Of Gallows Hill
A woman of massive power 
A Dominating Woman, Extremely Self-Willed

She went into Seclusion
When her Man was Executed
She Swore out her Vengeance 
And Proclaimed her Independence 
She Drained off her Inheritance
They carved away at her innocence
They starved her with no sustenance 
She preyed upon their decadence

They Stripped her of her Elegance
Exposed her to the Elements 
A Portrait of Breeding and Grandiloquence 
A Sonnet, Unseemly and Decadent 
Hesitation, Recalcitrance, Reticence 
The Physicians Prescribing her Medicines
To Help her to Build Up her Confidence
She Fell in Love with a tall Biochemist 
Designer Drugs and a Love Without Limits 

Does Reality Live in your Imagination? 
Or is what you Imagine even so much more Real ?
The Key to the Kingdom is Self-revelation 
We Open Up Lines of Real Communication 
We take the Time for Joyful Celebration
When we Spill the Wine, it's a Recapitulation 
Of the Old Ties that Bind between us and our Relations
And Masking the Crimes of our Unholy Nation

They took her on horseback to deep in the woods
They fed her some stuff that made her feel so good
But it wasn't enough, she wanted it quicker
So they mixed up a tub full of drugs and hard liquor 
Then all of these men took their sweet time with her
For all of their Circle, they made her the Bride
And then, 9 months later, she gave birth to the Scribe
It was right by the river where she lay down and died

They Shipped her Body to America
And Alerted her Lover in Bun Cranncha
At the Mouth of the Green River Crana
Underneath the Aurora Borealis
It was just like the Legend of Oedipus
Who murdered his Father
To be with his Mother
This drive lives inside of us
I is buried so incredibly deep 
We live the life it decides for us
Then it puts us right back down to sleep 

Oh, these late night reveries
And flights of imagination so fanciful and free 
Have brought us to the last frontier
Where our Whole Nation Sheds a Tear
We've Live in utter Desperation and Fear
At the Hands of this Despotic King’s Queers
Comes a Time when every Man
Must leave his Family and his Homeland

To Take Up Arms for Ireland 
To be ready to Falter and Crumble and Perish
Up at the Front where  Forever he will Stand
To Serve out his Mission in these Faraway Lands
The Scribe takes my Hand and he Takes me Below
The Last of our Men are taking their Battle Stations
Quickly, he tells me of his Family
His father had been a machinist
He made it the family business 
His mum was a lady of the evening
She would bring all the sailors
Into Soft Beds of Cotton
There, she would lay down beside them
And she'd show them what they'd forgotten

The Scribe was the spawn
Of that ill-gotten night
His Mother Absconded
With Everything in Sight
Anything she might just be able to Sell
To the Old Village Tradesmen
Down at the Public Market g

She Exchanged her Young Body
For what they were Craving
She had no way of Knowing
Of the Souls she was Saving
This is why Whoring
Is the World’s Oldest Profession
A new way of Adoring
Sexual Demonic Possession

The Heat inside our Seafarers’ Bodies
Is Echoed by our Lust for Wartime Domination
That's why our Leader, Bobby Sands
Won a Landslide Nomination
In our Hallowed Halls of Desperation
Our Families fall into Isolation
We will break down the Walls
Of this Corrupt Administration

They say that power shall surely Corrupt 
And that Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely
The Man of the Hour is to the Manor Born
Born on the Last Note of Gabriel's Horn
The People cast Votes that don't mean anything
We String Up the Redcoats
In the Name of the King 
We Burn all their Strongholds
As our sweet Children Sing

We lay waste to their barracks 
We disgrace all their clerics 
They deface The Golden Child
Commit rape, their dark secret 
Somewhere out in the wilds 
Murderers, thieves, perverts and pedophiles 
Their sickness reflected in the eyes of a child
Contortion, distortion in fanciful style 

His name was John Collingwood 
Carved Forever in Cold Stone
The Ulster county militiamen
That called the Scottish Highlands their home 
For his military indoctrination
As well as the correct identification
Of his body and possessions
And his top secret commission

They made him non-existent 
Like the Shadow of a Ghost 
No Silver Glow inside the Darkness
No bright Lighthouse on the Coast
He did his Work in Silence
For the Secret Cult of Violence
He became a Weapons Master
Swore a Blood Oath on the British Bastards

A Humble Man in all respects
At Work, in Love, in Church, in Sex 
Street Wise, Cool and Circumspect
Subversive and Politically Incorrect 
He Achieved the Rank of Field Commander
Under our Commanders Alexander
A man both decadent and confident 
No doubt a resident of the infinite firmament

No one really knew his name 
He was known only as JC 
His Namesake was our Lord in Pain
Nailed to the Cross up on Mount Calvary
It will never matter what you Believe
JC has Come to Set us Free

That's when the man who had just rescued me
Looked at me so deeply and lovingly 
My body began to shake and I started to cry 
I felt the old heartbreak and heard a soft lullaby 
I won't say exactly what happened that night 
That's all for my savior and I 
Ecstasy, Liberty, hedonistic luxury 
An honoring as timeless as the sea 

Self-Expression, Intersection
Jubilation for All of Humanity 
Demilitarization of the Insanity
A Conflagration for the Profanity 
A Timely Graduation
For the Elevation Generation
A Wondrous Education
And a Thunderous Reputation

We Burned their Villages and Towns 
Knocked their Fortresses to the Ground
We Charmed their Earth into Quicksand
So that the Emerald Fields of Ireland 
Would be Free of British Occupation 
The Gravest of the Grave
The most Raw of Malediction
Without some Help or Interdiction

From the Divine Source of all Remission
With no Remorse for our Sacred Sedition
The British expect our Total Submission
As we Take Aim on their Position
We're turning the whole British Empire
Into Blazing Burial Mound
We Commit them to the Sacrificial Fire 
As the Midnight Sun is Going Down

This is when my friend JC 
Puts his signature beside the throne
He calls in the Saints from all of Time 
In the Name of Valentinius of Rome
He cries out to the ancients 
He denies our foregone legacy
In so doing, he guarantees 
We will make our mark on History

A Portrait of Culture and Elegance
A Living Emanation of Wretched Success
Out to Defeat just the Best of the Best 
To Defend for our Cause both the South and the West
A kind of gracious gentleman 
He lived his whole life in a coterie of  Men 
Has gallant and valiant as a Mariner's watch 
No friendlier than a swift Kick in the crotch

With hard-working hands that would grab pull and push
They would force him to lie down right under a bush
Intercourse never for Love or romance
All just an effort to get into your pants
Our Commanders are leaders that get what they want
You won't Understand either, because you are a Dilettante 
You dabble and diddle with rabble and riddles
Rome Burns while Nero is Playing his Fiddle

JC and I in the Crow's Nest on High
I cross my heart and hope that I might die
If I see a spark or a look in his eye 
Out come the charts for an exit goodbye
That's not our worry, not right at this time 
We're Sailing a Course under St Valentine
If things got any Worse, I go Out of my Mind

But, I have JC to help me Leave it Behind 
He is Inside me like the Infinite Mind
He will Invite me when we're all Left behind 

The War still Excites me, it's like Finding the Key
To Pandora's Box and the Great Symphony 
The Song of the Sirens
Distant Lands across the Sea 
It’s Calling to you as it Beckons to me
Maybe the Ocean’s like our Galaxy 
The Sky is the Water, the Earth, you and me
For Ireland, we Commit our Own Lives to be Free

If it makes you Happy
My One and Only True Love
Then your Heart Sings to me
Like a Chorus of Angels from High up Above 
We're Brave and we're Clever
With the Power of Love 
We shall Stand and Deliver
Like a Hand in a Glove 

And when it is Over, if we Lose or if we Win
The Devil comes to collect his dues 
For our Violent Wages of Sin 
You can Read it in the Belfast Chronicle
From the Worldly-Wise, Pastoral Canonical
Puritanical or Satanical? 
Is it Homemade or is it Weapons-Grade?
Are you Conservative or a Radical?

It doesn't matter anyway 
You are only what you say you are
You recreate your spirit and your soul each day 
And you are descended from a star 
You create what you imagine 
Your body is an engine 
You drive it like a car 
But it isn't who you are

Like Lightning Rods up on the Mast 
They called out to the Future 
And they brought in the past 
They summoned the sea creature 
From deep under the waves
To send the British flotilla 
Way down deep to a watery grave

Cyclically predictable 
The war that has no end 
Irrational, unthinkable
Brother on sister, friend on friend 
More battle lines are being drawn 
Right now while we speak 
At the Golden Sands of Avalon 
We are surely up a creek

Now, we all hear a terrible sound 
It sounds like the sky is falling down 
Or like fabric ripping itself apart
Cosmic Infusium, the Song of the Meadowlark
Interstellar Revelation of our Divine Re-Ordination
The Answers always stay the Same
And yet, the Questions still Remain 
Like Dancers on the Astral Plane 

A pity you were put to shame 
In your endless quest for fame 
You were blessed to pass the test 
Now watch the sunrise in the West
In The Gospel according to St Matthew
Though somewhat distorted by me and by you 
Revisionist historians
As we have truly come to be

We Create our own Mythology 
As we Sail across Eternity
It becomes part of our Biology
The Lore and Legend of the Sea 
And if at Last, it Comes to Pass
Like some Graven Image from the Past
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife 
Or he is permitted to take your life 

If you Dance along the Edge of a Knife
Then, perchance, it will always mean
The End of Romance and the End of your Life
If you awaken inside the dream 
You are forsaken, this is not what it seems 
Your stamping out victories
Like a well-armed machine
Till everything fades into the in-between

You gather your strength
And you Muster your Courage
To face the Oblivion that lies in your future
You're an anonymous creature, a cypher
The Cosmos is London Town
And you're the Pied Piper

It feels just like SpaceTime
Is starting to Rip
It feels like Grandmother
Has commanded a Trip
A bright Solar System
And a new SpaceTime Ship

At some point in the future 
Our scientists will postulate 
The end of times for the universe 
But, we don't have to wait
The Human Race will be Long Gone
Extinct before its Time 
Much like the Sentences we handed down 
In the Name of St. Valentine

We are Caught Between the Dawning 
And the Daylight once again
It is Early in the Morning
Just Offshore from Starlight Glen
Now, before it is too Late
We must Listen to our Wizard Friend 
As we Stand Ready at the Gate
Of our Sweet Hometown of Riverbend

We all are convicted of the sin of hate 
For us it is a trusted weapon 
Until our enemy lies in state
The IRA Court is in Session
To Finalize my Field Report
I Intentionally do not Mention
The way our Men Came to Order
When they were Commanded to Attention

Before us there, Beyond the Horizon 
We all can See a Shimmering Light 
It Seems as though that King Poseidon
Was about to Bid us a tender Goodnight

With the Softest Hands of a Curious Child
Where Children can Grow Up
To be Happy, Free and Wild
Holding Hands as they Wander
Through Faraway Lands
Eyes open with Wonder
At what they don't Understand
Why even a Boy has to Act like a Man

Be Hale and be Hearty
Step Lively, Young Sailor
Your next Tour of Duty
Could be on a Boston Whaler
Wouldn't you rather go Out
When the Ides of September Remember
With your Soul Bleeding Out
Pouring into the River of Forever

It's a Courageous Woman 
Who will Stand beside her Man
When Everything that Happens 
Is part of Somebody Else’s Plan
Our Values are Distorted and  Misshapen 
Like Icebergs on the Frozen Fjord
Let us then Prepare Ourselves 
For the Coming of the Lord

That's when my loyal friend, JC
Said, “Hail to thee, O Wizard of the Sea 
Raise your Sword in Victory
It’s your Word the Fates shall Listen to
And let the Sun shine through
The Blackest, most Impenetrable Canopy
No promise that you will ever be free
Son, come and take a walk with me 

The Tower of London, the HM Prison Maze
The British Empire come undone
As we all face the end of our days 
That Civilization can Go Away
Like the Blood flowing down the River Thames
As readily as we make our way 
As steadily as we take our aim
Our bloodletting skills put theirs to shame 

Bring us your sunshine
End we will turn it into rain
May your life be the punchline
To a riddle quite insane 
O'Donnell, O’Coghlan
 McDonald, McLaughlin
Long Live the Republics
Of Ireland and Scotland!

Thousands upon thousands
Of Scotch-Irish Names
Are carved into the Stonebridge
At O'Neill and Old St. James
From the Greenwich Mean Meridian
To the North Atlantic Main
Strike up the band, my Mariners
Because it is Time now for the End Game

The main forces are coming in from the south
They are mostly scouts and rum runners 
They'll try to take us down and out
But we're taking on all comers 
We might be heading into winter 
But it will feel like the dead of Summer 
It all depends on who you believe 
And whatever you choose to remember

There was a Time when we were Young 
O, Captain, my Captain and me
It was the rise of the tides and the fall of the Sun 
That kept calling us out to the Sea
It seems like the working day was never done 
There was no time for you or for me 
But oh, my love, we can be sure 
We will die upon the sea

For the Green and Golden Fields of Heather 
I would wear Forever Steel and Leather
I wore my Citations for Bravery with Honor 
Till they were Replaced by a Chain and a Collar 
The Structure of Mayhem
Released upon the Masses 
By the Nobles, the Aristocrats
And the Archest of the Ruling Classes

There is no Time to Reminisce 
No Trip down Memory Lane 
It's Time for us to Finish this
As the Fire begins to Rain
We Hear strange Children’s Voices Crying 
As we Look into the Flames
We can See their Faces Flying
They are a Race without a Name

Hall of Mirrors, House of Wax
Castle of Horrors, House of Glass
Snake Oil Salesman, Medicine Man
It's all too Real until you Understand
You are the Last Hope of our Beloved Ireland
We are the only Highland Brigadiers
Who have a Singular Chance to Defend
All that's been Taken Away from us
From Protestant Ashes to Catholic Dust

So, once again, it Comes To Pass
When it Comes Down to the Hardest of Cases
We're about to Kick some British Ass
In the Never-ending War between the Races
Einstein said that faith without science 
Is as blind as it can be 
Science without faith i without conscience
As lame as a one-legged enemy

But, when the battle lines are being drawn 
And all your mates are working strong 
It might not be too very long 
Before you reach the shores of Babylon
You Dig for something Deep Inside 
A Word that you just cannot Hide
George  Custer, Geronimo & Sitting Bull
Pamplona, Spain, see the real Bull Run

Cannonballs and Gatling Guns
7th Son of the 7th Son
Firefalls and Burning Mud
The Brits are Drowning in their Blood
‘Tis the Best of Times, the Worst of Times
The World has its Masters like St. Valentine
What's Mine is Yours, and what's Yours is Mine
We find these Shores in the Shadows of our Mind

Comes a Time to Cross that Line
Now, the Hour has surely Come
As we Count our Final Moments
In the Shadow of the Gun
History might well be Different
From the Truth of what we did out there
We fought the Fight in staunch Defense 
Of Knights in Armor and Maidens Fair

An Empire as it used to be 
A Bonfire with your Family
Rewarded for your Gallantry
A Celebrated Victory
This doesn't mean it can't Go Wrong 
You might have to Sing another Song 
If you do, I Promise you 
I’ll be there to Sing Along

Meantime, we have much to do
It seems like I can look through you 
The Universe, Reborn, Anew
Aries splits your Heart in 2
All around us, Everywhere
Spirits Dancing in the air 
Ursa Minor and the Great Bear
Strike them down with room to spare

Bite the Bullet if you Dare
It isn't like it isn't there
It could have come from anywhere
Are you really not aware? 
Do you suffer from cognitive fallacy?
Do you Perceive your Fantasy as Reality?
Did you receive certain Messages at Coventry?
Can you Read the Dark Passages in front of me?

Do you Believe what the Press keeps on Telling you
On your little 12” Color TV?
Are you Bereaved at the Mess they are Selling you?
Do you Sit in a Circle in Rapt Attention
Just like one, big, happy Family?
Are you the Center of your own Creation?
Do you keep it all Quiet
Or do you make a Sensation?
Are you starting a Riot 
With your Insubordination?

Another kind of Invitation
Steps up upon the Elizabethan Stage
Ladies and Gentlemen, put your Hands Together
For our own Prophetic Sage
A Wizard with Wisdom for the Ages
Our History is Rewritten in Stages
More than anything, this is the Real Sport of Kings 
To be One of the Authors of the Book of all Things

Back to the Rages and Ravages of War 
There are Peace Walls now at Shankill
Where there never were Stone Walls before
Play all the Dancers right onto the Floor
Pray you'll find Answers as you go through the door
Or you can be sure we won't see you anymore
Be the physician as you search for a cure
Make an incision when it's time to explore

This surgery will be extremely painful
Retrograde Mercury
Stark Naked and Shameful 
His Messages Hidden in Methods Ungainful
Transgressions, Dissection
Last Bastion, Transcendental

Decidedly Unsentimental 
So Exquisitely Continental 
The Egyptian Eye of God Triangle
The Sigal of Baphomet Pentangle
The Masons dislodging a Vehicle
That comes from somewhere Extraterrestrial
Prepared to do Battle with Alien Invaders 
Send them all right on back to their rightful Creators

A skillfully sequestered strategic battalion
Under the Starfield we know as Rapscallion
Our secrets revealed by the enemies spies
There is blood on our hands
And white fire in our eyes
Essentially hampered
Sabotaged and tampered with 
Surgical Dilation & Curettage

Wharf Rat Senators, Reactionary Arbiters
The Catholic Church, Impuritas
Another Hit to the Mariner’s Amidships
Like Skyrockets at the Mardi Gras
Spiraling Sparks, the Milky Way
Andromeda, Galactica Triangulum

Now, enter the Reticulum 
From the Constellation Osculum 
Living Botulinum Toxin
A miscreant Compulsion 
Degenerate, disgusted repulsion
Resulting in naught but Revulsion
It Pervades all of our Institutions
Martial Music, Revolution

Guardians and Goddesses 
Sirens of the 7 Seas
From 4  Generations of harsh, angry Seamen
Our sons and our daughters, our men and our women
The Death of Our Lord & Our Savior Jesus Christ
You came to the wrong place if you have to think twice 
The Road is a Long, Straight and Narrow Highway 
You must tread lightly, till we all Fly Away

That Day comes, and we all Cross the River 
Diagonal shafts of sun through the shutters 
Thrust your Excalibur clean up to the hilt 
Tell me, what are those ladder scars? Are you a cutter?
When you live like a gypsy, it's whatever you can wrangle 
It's not the Tilt of the Kilt, it's the Angle of the Dangle 
Can you Throw it Down and just Dance like Bojangles?

Fractalized Particles, Hexagonal Angles
Woman, why is your Hair all Messed Up and in Tangles?
Tell me, who is that bear eating all of your honey? 
Come on over here and I'll show you the money
I really don't care, I just think you're funny
Your cold, iceberg stare and your bare, naked tummy
It's a Royal Affair, and you really look stunning
But, you’d better Beware of that Gambit you're Running

The British don't Care, because they Own your Mind
They moved into your house when you were over the line
They unbuttoned her blouse for the very last time
And, before you got Home, she was with the Divine 
Now comes the moment for your sweet revenge
You catapult, somersault over the edge
You're at St. James Infirmary, hanging on to a Ledge 
You are still a Gentleman even when you are Dead

Even when the Fates are in your Favor
It is the State that Decides your Fate
You want to try to love your neighbor 
But it's already too late
The Die has been Cast into Fields of Seagrass
And, we all know that Heaven Won’t Wait
Roll with the Tides splashing up on the Shore
Go Deep Inside, way down Under the Floor

Listen to the Heartbeat
Hear it Marking your Time
Feel into the Street Beat 
This Is not A Chorus Line
Our Enemies lie Dead Ahead 
Our Allies close Behind
They pull up Alongside of us 
On both our Port and Starboard Sides

Somehow through a Portal, our Hull begins to Slide
A Spiraling Sensation, Disoriented Disassociation
The British are emptying all of their guns 
As though they are trying to put out the Sun
It's the Last Time they will Hurt anyone
As God is my Witness, I now hereby Declare
I shall Commit these Invaders to the Pit down in there 
Then I’ll Quit what has been a most entangled Love Affair

Our Lives have been Mangled
Our Ship has been Wrecked
Emerald Green or American Spangled
It's time for the Irish to teach them respect
The Yanks are their Allies
Double Agents and Dark Spies 
Filling the Air with Skullduggerous Lies
See where they are when our  Cannonball flies

The Price of our Fight is that we are now Wise
We can see through the Night with the Sun in our Eyes
So many have died, so many are gone 
We bid them goodbye on our long journey home
The essence of control is surrender 
The center of Mercy is tenderness
The presence of your soul is living splendor
You sense the Divine Mother is your Shepherdess

My pop used to say I should be a preacher
I answered, how can that be if you are my teacher
He said, each one of us has our own cross to bear
We have the British and the colors they wear
Red, White, blue and gold, a mockery of the colonies they stole
Like our Master before us, Venite Adoremus
But the bastards abhor us while our children adore us

Were you pastor of your children's Chorus 
You could start a church out in the Forest
An everlasting testament
To the ever present firmament 
But, father, I do not believe in God 
Not the way the modern Christians do 
It's Ersatz Nietzsche, a Religious Façade
A secret society that is hunting for you

Pressure mechanics, Piezoelectrics
Indentured Satanic Atlantic Dominatrix 
The Sea is a Woman, the Sun is a Man 
Their Union is more then a cool One Night Stand
Underground Water turns the Land to Quicksand 
And we go down under to the Dark Shadowlands
The conductor now taps his baton for attention 
As we sail into Babylon for our terminal mission

I have come to believe that all property is theft 
Like so many great thinkers before me 
I am an Irishman, my life is a quest 
To eke riches from the bleeding jaws of poverty 
The sons of bitches have robbed us of everything
We are buried in ditches singing God Save the King 
For a sweet Irish lass and an afternoon fling
Lying in the tall grass, we can hear the children sing

I cite again The Art of War
The Battle outside is Raging
“Water shapes its Course
According to the Nature
Of the Ground Over which it Flows 
The Soldier works out his Victory in Relation
To the Foe that he is Facing”
They don't know how we will be Retaliating

There is no way to See anything we Recognized before 
Our Battle Lines have Lifted Off from the Shores of Nevermore
The Commanders turn to Face the Crew 
“This is nothing more than to say thank you
And to pray the Lord will see us through 
When you’ve said and done it all
All that's left is I Love You”

Commanders, we can hear you
But none of us know where you are 
It's impossible to navigate 
For we cannot see the stars 
Our instruments are useless 
Our efforts all are meaningless
Our Hadley's Quadrant has set its own course
For the Distant Horizons of Inverness

If you could spread your wings and Fly
My Love, what would you do? 
We have Broken Through and still Alive 
But we don't Know what we Broke Through
A Membrane in the Cosmos?
The Collective Soul of the Mariners Crew?
Will you Live Inside of me?
Will I Die Inside of you?

Is there still a Place in Heaven
That we can call our Home?
Will the Milliner Siren Cyrilla
Will she Kill you or will she Fulfill you?
Will she still Sing from her Mythical Valhalla?
Far from the Village, from the Mill on the Hill?

Your most Precious Gifts
Are your Will and your Skill
God only knows as you Close for the Kill 
The British remember too much about this
When they Shattered our Trust, it was done with a Fist
They took us to Dinner and they Promised us Bliss
In the Dead of the Winter under the cold Moons of Venus

We see it all happen in suspended slow motion 
The Earth and the Sky become part of the Ocean 
We still can't define this cyclonic motion
Spun out in space time with canonic devotion
The British Fleet seems to be breaking apart 
What starts as a Spark Burns into a Quark
We all Hear the Song of the Wood Meadowlark

Until it went wrong it was good from the start
Another Love Song that almost missed its mark 
We first Made Love  down at Riverside Park
Now here we are surrounded 
By salty old sailors and sharks
Everywhere we turn to have a look around
Things are strangely changing form and shape
Fractalized CC, Translucent, like an Aurora Borealis Sundown
 
Before there were so many ships surrounding us
Our Paymaster said we would have to wait
We expected by now to be engaged 
Perhaps on the last and final page
The tea the cook gave us has got us to humming 
No Big Book can save us from the Night that is coming
My Love, I must say, you look wonderfully stunning
Feel the artillery, thunderously gunning
It isn't the British, it's the universe hunting

We have lived on an island of guilt by accusation
Imprisoned without trials by suspected affiliation
We’ve now entered a place where no one's ever been
Somehow rewarded for our virtue and our sin
We don't know if we will see our children ever again
We must trust that they're just like us, protected in some way 
Being subjected to an experience to unite us all at the end of days

Farewell to Bloody Sunday
And to that lovely Irish Lass 
The Cosmos now appears to us 
As if through Shattered Shards of Glass 
Everything seems to pull apart
The Sound of Tearing in the SpaceTime Arc
Particles of Matter are what's left of our Good Ship
Waterfalls of color as a light comes from the dark

Time has now become Meaningless 
We are Beyond the Borderlands
Everything here must serve to Remind us
Of the Lord's Tender, Loving Hands
There's no telling what will happen
But there is nothing in our way 
We know what we’ve left behind us
As our darkest night becomes a brand new day

We know our loved ones all will find us
We pray we can recognize them 
When what was 2 turns into 1
When night is over, and day is done
We will stand before the Midnight Sun
And offer thanks unto the One
For the little Pranks and Leprechauns
And for, at last, the Silence of the Guns

Goodbye for now, my gentle friends 
We will wait for you at River’s End
Don't hesitate, you're at The End
May you reap more than you spend 
And when, at last, we meet again 
You and I, and our Friend JC
With the sirens singing Harmony
Together again in Eternity
~ Douglas Matthew Heyes
10.05.2026

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