the worst castles
are the best castles
they stand tall & proud
on the shoulders & backs
of the iconoclasts who built them

i’m not talking ’bout no
aristocracy
that grotesque teabag sideshow act

this is for the remnant ruminants
this is for those who are
on the hook
castled with
a scottish rook
en passant by the duke of earl of sandwich board Lord Hoard
strung up and down and out
dangling feet
first
from a tapestry cord
you are free to go my lord
dismissed with a
pacifist fist
a pitchfork in the mist and smoke
of a torch that lights the way,
if I may,
to a mutual
free’dom’nation
versive submission
supine cursive subjugate geishas
cut-rate prostrate nerf serfs
carried by a sinusoidal wave of
volatile volition
ablution
volution
evolution
revolution
convolution
dissolution
no solution
no end to your troubles
just because you flipped the table
over
did your chore
spun the revolving power door
(redblackredblackredblack red  black   red    black     red      black       red        black)
to even out the illusory score
one more time, we gotta celebrate
for plus ça change, plus ça―
nihil novi sub sole
nothing new under the sun, son
no need to fuss, gus
your are the food chain, boss
you are what you eat
one day you’re a jerk
one day you’re a molé
one day you’re a beast
and one day you’re full of pollack-sole
on the dole
fresh from a boxcar
(like) cheaply picked fruit
low hanging
easy pickings for charles dickens
in a panty twist of olive fate we call
progress

you put the con in congress
it’s all about cheap labour, you see
the more the merrier
the merrier the more
as long as you keep poppin’ out
desperate masses
into the lower classes
you will be the pope’s dope
and the rich man’s one and only hope
that you’ll break your back
and cough and hack
and lift and stack
line the rack
stretched from commonwealth sea
to shining commonwealth sea
you’re so gonna need the CPR
you the ever-patient patient
etherized upon your Emily Carr tableau
upon your Canadian Shield flatbed
gallopping over cardiac expansion joints

the empire buck starts and stops here
at these extreme points, you see
gets snuffed out (like)
a cracked downtown east side olympic torch here
here, in terminal city

but the castles start… here
in your chessboard’s corner
the desperation here so thick it’s sick
bad cologne of lonely hearts
without a club
or a rubber-sole band
you are free to take a hike
to snap
to beat
to bleed
to rag
to stop
drop
roll
a perfect strike
use pins
to drag
to slug
to trail
through sand
by hand
homeric stone bowling ball after ball
for the edifice hall o’
the exalted pharaoh master blaster
(whose barter-garter disposition’s never quite sunny, ya dig?)

but his overcast royal
alabaster dour
facade
smug smog mug
has got your goat
he’s got you by your throat
and he’s got you by your money, honey
so get busy, bee
no time to rant, ant
you have no voice
no choice
in the matter
move your feet
pitter patter!
pater noster
our father, who ain’t even here…

meanwhile, you… your life
is but a hail mary pass
do not pass
go
do not collect
any intellect
defect
at your own risk
tisk, tisk, tisk, this is not a board game
this is not over yet!
stay tuned!
subscribe to our low-ball offer
of your common dream
for mere pennies on the dollar ninety-nine!
all you have to do is reach out and
touch faith
fatten up for the slaughter
of your incense
get buffet buff
chow down on the supersized bod of zombie jesus
with corn-syrup bunny ears
and everything will be all right
child
this is not your life anyway
yours is the next one
this one’s for the human gods
in their safety pods
we call castles

there’s dragons in them tarred moats
no feathery light trebuchet speed boats
can cross it in time
the harder they come
the more apple wagon
rockers get vexed, hexed
next!
next!
next!
the doctor will see you now
about the lash gashes that zebra your back
back to work!
we have wind whistles to blow
we have castles to build
with the eternal, shifting flows of sands of time
through saharan eras
across peon aeons

it’ll be the best of castles
it’ll be the worst of castles

but you…

you will not be remembered.