Original rap/poetry by Larry Montague. Copyright © 2012 Larry Montague. Permission required for reproduction.

"the pain"

‘read this note’ says the man in the black coat
wearing an angst that was born on a packed boat
the words gush from a drowned mouth in the deep end
he needs the root of all evil to absolve his demons
his hackneyed semblance screams feel me!
trying to get out of philly with the firm proof he hides below his sleeves,
and can’t leave in this bus station
he’s by the bathroom door pacin
‘come inside, i’ll show you the scars’
i tell him no need, ‘cause they’re apparent
his odd humility is fervent
a train slithers by looking like the plumed serpent
his pain solidifies what we confide with blind observance
we follow the lead who lead us astray
i offer charity without knowing for what i just paid
blamed if i enable him to live another day
rebels walk in dark clothes at night
and get enlightened in the headlights
till they’re dead right

if only i could be a fly on the face of a malnourished child
or a stray in a cage
third rock from the sun, third world from the treasure
the weakest parts feel the most pressure
the indirect effects we don’t measure
connect paychecks with sex for quick pleasure
men without knowledge of self stand on the edge with no self-esteem
toes dangled off the heath ledger
as a party jumps off in every manhattan night
club that chic in the head after slippin a small pill in her plastic
couple of creeps rob an old lady of her leather
personal information is stolen from your e-
male chauvinists, females aborting
kid’s networks are full of
shots of the virus
i keep an image of a safe world on the back side of my eyelids
trying to find silence while inside of a mindless world full of sirens

a man shivers in the cold of a burlington night
as girls strut by mockingly in skirts and faux fur
i lock eyes with him and he looks at me as though he watched me sleep
and heard me utter revealing words
sudden i feel the urge to feel nothing
people flinch as i expel this soul sickness of the rich
we rake in gifts and blow wishes off a fat cake
throw out clothes and set traps in the rat race
grace covers with a face full of plaster and paste
girls sit in empty tubs and try to bleed the ugly out of them
children fill their bodies at a faster pace
parents pray but these predators they can’t outrun
landscapes get defaced by disaster and waste
it’s the duty of this album to ask how come?
a salutary eighty years for seven billion
skyscrapers, more penicillin