Alchemisland

Armpits hairy 

Black La Brea tar pits

Hardly a problem, does no harm 

Pussy colour glazed ham 

I’m at it like I’m making bacon sandwiches

Alarms going off like I walked out 

With the tags still on

In the Jag it won’t take long

Stay back to smoke a fag, long drags 

I’m with the dregs, the unwashed 

The beggars, they’re like the dead 

Legless on anonymous liquor 

Brewed in some Mick’s shed 

Although a midden they live in 

Not the worst I’ve been in by far 

Nothing given so they take and remake

You could be forgiven for thinking 

The shack and surrounds 

Were art installations for tourists to crowd 

There is a definite and distinct 

Business about it, din and vim 

It’s nice enough, definitely lived in

But fuck me the stink of the citizens 

I’m popular, shanty city key holder 

Nowhere I don’t get in 

I’m holding and they know 

Most of them owe me, they know 

I don’t own anyone but it’s close 

If there’s a bullet they’ll throw 

Themselves in front of it 

Secret service on a budget 

I’ve got a bunch of 

Different drugs 

All manner of 

Indigents illicit and thugs 

Line up, faces known in mugshots

Half of them have been shot 

The other half eventually get got 

Nice guys most, simply lost 

Or fucked from birth

God’s coin toss 

Raking in cash

Arrayed like a pagan 

I’ll splash most away 

Most around my neck snakes 

On the take, I have to watch out 

Promises are breaking like

Chains at the end of slavery 

Wooden staves against bitter steel

I go bull in Chinashop 

After I’ve chopped up sloppy lines

You’d think after a hundred times 

I would have it to a fine art 

But delicate tasks are axed

Not in my astrological chart

Doesn’t mean I don’t try 

After five we’ve all got lines 

We turn from mice to lions 

I’m in outer space, skirting Orion

Up there willing, body downstairs smiling.