Swans (Life After Death)

Swans, swans,
Swans sing songs,
All night long,
Who knew how warm the islands were,

While the frogs look on,
It's what the birds prefer,
And it's still warm after the sun has gone,

I woke up thirsty the day I died,
And the tide was swirling,
My mouth is so dry,
And all I see is sea to shining seas,

Swans, swans,
Swans sing songs,
All night long,
Who knew how warm the islands would be,

And who knew just how much,
The sky covers me,
It makes you forget what it means to be free ,

I climbed into the blowhole,
In the ribs I found you,
With a wick, we lit a flame,
Now look at the smoke that it blew,

The mouth is so wide,
Yet all I see is sea,
And azure sky,
A little wave and ebb tide,

Rivers leak,
Salt seeps in,
Heals wounds,
Winds pry apart,

Swans, swans,
Swans sung songs,
Till the morning dawned on us,
And the sun-smudged peach moon still hung loose ,

Bones, bones,
Bones groan,
The sparrows in the trees we leave them for,
They love the marrow,

I'm thankful for my life,
I'm thankful for my life.

- Islands

Conditioned Consumption

Conditioned consumption without question,
So far removed from nature's laws,
It seems we've lost direction,
We indulge ourselves with poisons,
Desecrate ourselves with toxins,
And laugh in the face of death for the sake of convenience,
We reject the essentials, just consume what we like,
Refined processed contaminants which we've been fed all our lives,
Excessive packaging waste prepackaged for land fill,
We pollute our bodies, we destroy the earth,
Contamination of a sacred temple,
We defile ourselves and we wonder why,
We are they way we are the way we are,
Crash course for self destruction,
We remove all traces of nutrients that protect us from disease.

- Mr Zaki,
  Life drawing artist/lecturer

John Wayne Gacy, Jr.

His father was a drinker,
And his mother cried in bed,
Folding John Wayne's t-shirts,
When the swingset hit his head,
The neighbors, they adored him,
For his humor and his conversation,
Look underneath the house there,
Find the few living things, rotting fast, in their sleep,
Oh, the dead,

Twenty-seven people,
Even more, they were boys,
With their cars, summer jobs,
Oh my God,

Are you one of them?

He dressed up like a clown for them,
With his face paint white and red,
And on his best behavior,
In a dark room on the bed,
He kissed them all,
He'd kill ten thousand people,
With a sleight of his hand,
Running far, running fast to the dead,
He took off all their clothes for them,
He put a cloth on their lips,
Quiet hands, quiet kiss on the mouth,

And in my best behavior,
I am really just like him,
Look beneath the floor boards,
For the secrets I have hid.

- Sufjan Stevens

A Journalist Falls in Love with Deathrow Inmate

I was writing his story,
And he gave me a look,
He was very handsome, distractingly so,
and I never dreamed that he'd be my boyfriend,
He wrote me letters, daily from prison,
That said I know I've killed a few,
But none of those women were you,
I couldn't speak,
It was over for me,
I found my grim reaper prince,

Well, he said he loved me,
And he cooked me dinner,
He cut my lungs out,
And made me feel thinner,
And I'll never forget him,
Now that it's over,
The life that we had,
When they strapped him down,
Oh, but how all the girls were jealous,
Cause he liked me the best,
Oh, and I couldn't breathe,
It was true love indeed,
But now my grim prince is gone,

Well I said I loved him,
When they strapped him in,
But he wasn't cryin',
He took it like a man, 
And the families watched him,
As he breathed his last,
But I got rather angry,
I started to laugh,
And say now he's got what's comin',
He was due his lot,
Oh, and I couldn't see, there were tears on my cheek,
Goodbye, my grim reaper prince,
Goodbye, my grim reaper prince,
Goodbye, goodbye,
I'll see you in a while,
Goodbye,
Farewell,
Good luck.

- Margot & the Nuclear So and So's