Gord's Café

Listen To This...No. 1 & No. 2

Listen To This...No. 1 & No. 2



by Gordon Coombes


Listen to this he said
this is important
everything depends on it
we have to become extreme
to go from one extreme
to another satisfying
all our needs
to find the middle way
to become who we are -

But listen to this he said
we need a teacher
a new Guru
someone who traveled
this path before us -

Going on our little journey
unaware of it all
of all that we do
of all that we could do
unaware of where we are
unaware of where we are going
nuking our bridges behind us
nuking the bridges before us -

Listen to this I tell you
this is important
I am barely awake
from one day to the next
sleeping in so late everyday
it takes three cups of coffee
& a couple of cigarettes
to clear away the cobwebs
in my head time slowed
down to a crawl a traffic jam
in the Jumble Jar -

Listen to this I tell you
this is important
fearing being alone forever
sick of our solitary existence
in a moment of weakness
wanting to fit in
struggling day by day
with those nagging doubts
wearing one of those off-the-rack
ill fitting suits becoming
uncomfotable inside our own skin
sooner or later our lovers
all leave you & I knowing the crime
we have committed
you & I love
are a walking cliché
with only ourselves to blame -

Listen to this she said
this is important
my sister I tell you
was always depressed
so many times attempting
to end it cutting her wrist
popping pills driving a car
wielding it like a weapon
a maniac on the road
jumping from a lofty height
off of some Ivory Tower
off of some Glittering Tower
of glass finally did the deed
with a bit of style
a hundred pills & a bottle
of nicely aged twelve year old
smokey scotch-

Listen to this
you need to hear it
this is important
there is a precise order
to the cosmos
it turns around spreads outward
in between is chaos
beneath it all is order
building blocks of creation-

Listen I must tell you this
this is important
the foghorn sounds all night long
firetrucks rumble by two
or three times every hour
ambulances rush by carrying
plague victims tossing bodies
into open pits for fear of contagion
spilling lime on the piles of corpses
the attendants & gravediggers
dressed like astronauts-


This I tell you is important
listen to this
our darkest secrets
our darkest memories
of death loss & pain
which steal our sleep
awaken us in a cold sweat
seeing friends & lovers
broken beyond repair
the scenes replayed
a thousand times
on the big screen
inside the Jumble Jar -

I tell you this is important
listen to this
all these dogs & cats
put to rest beside all those
friends & relatives
measuring the years
marking off the seasons
in funerals surrounded
by temperamental spirits
who come & go as they please-


I tell you listen to this
it is important
there are some things
it would be better
not to have known
not to have seen
of a child crushed by a car
men crushed by tons of earth
in the coal mine across the street
dying by degrees a slow painful
death of coal dust filled lungs
retching & coughing
of suicides of madness
of men beating their wives
their lovers their children
better to have only heard rumours
of such things-

This is important I tell you
so listen to this
of a man insane barricaded
in his own house with a shotgun
twelve gauge double barreled
shooting at the police
crowds gathering something to see
on a slow Saturday afternoon
watching all this making a day of it
bringing tea & sandwiches-

But listen this is important
this is the strange part
of this tale all of it
becomes a movie an item
on the evening news
faces of strangers appear
on the tv screen
I become a camera
a member of the audience
it is just part of a play


I am writing
each scene I choreograph
each tableau vignettes of hell-


Listen To This he said Part 2

God has abandoned us
God is at our beck & call
angels surround us
hovering about us
if we reach out
we could touch them
if we could really
believe in them
they watch over us
they hear our hopes
desires fears & prayers
but are powerless
to come to our aid -

Listen to this
I tell you it is important
we still live in the shadow
of dreamed mushroom clouds
growing boiling filling
the sky from horizon to horizon
a dark curtain drawn
over the sun -

Listen to this I tell you
it is important
there are those who have
all they could ever need
& they still demand more
& want to take away
from the poor
what little they have
so they can feel superiour -

Listen to this
it is important
I tell you
the Buddha sits
inside us
we are not just
lumps of flesh -

I tell you our souls are sick
neglected too long
in the name of science
in the name of sophistication
only fools country bumpkins
& village idiots
believe in such superstitions -

Listen to this
a nagging negative dwarf
squats upon our shoulders
always talking whispering
in our ear reminding us
that all of this has no point
that all of this amounts
to nothing our lives
are but a shadow play -

Listen this is important
in this New Age
they tell us everyone is happy
everyone sheds tears for the poor
its all just Karmic Justice
suck in your gut
& take it like a man
stop your whinning
all our prayers are answered
all our prayers fall on deaf ears
tell all those who complain
this country is for winners
not losers & fuck-ups -

Listen to this
this is important
there are people living
on the streets
few care more concerned
about vacations in Cuba
Jamaica & Mexico
where the elite like to go
snow birds flying south
always bitching about
the weather & taxes -

Listen you must hear this
your lover is seeing someone new
You & I love are a walking cliché -