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| Photo by Caroline Coon |
from FIRST SONGS AND PERFORMANCE PIECES
published in Collected Lyrics 1970-2015
Oath
Jesus died for somebody’s sins
but not mine
melting in a pot of thieves
wild card up my sleeve
thick heart of stone
my sins my own
I engrave my own palm
Sweet black X
Adam placed no hex on me
I embrace Eve
and take full responsibility
for every pocket I have picked
mean and slick
every Johnny Ace song I’ve balled to
long before the church
made it neat and right
So Christ
I’m giving you the good-bye
firing you tonight
I can make my own light shine
and darkness too is equally fine
you got strung up for my brother
but with me I draw the line
you died for somebody’s sins
but not mine
“Oh no
more horses horses
you’re
going to swim like a fish
into the
hole in which
you
planned to ditch me”
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| 1975 |
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| poetry reading at St Mark's, NYC - 1971 |
