Wednesday, 1 September 1999

Not You


its not you its only the telephone
it gets in my ear it’s the telephone i want to get off
not you
get me off the telephone

its not you in my way
its this voice in my head
it gets in my ear so I cannot shut it down
shut down my head
not you

its not you i can see
it’s the stardust in my eyes
you look pretty good form down here
but its the pictures in my dream
not you

its not you
its the telephone
the voice in my ear and
the stardust in my eyes
its my dream
not you

© Rennie 1999

Sunday, 1 November 1998

The Woman In Me (Song Unsung)


i'm a lion and i'm roaring you down
i'm a blizzard, like a blight on your town
you rein me in
you pull me up but
i'm a strom in your teacup

i am free fall
if you dare to look up
you'll catch me gliding
on the wind
i'm quite a tiger, as far as
pussy cats go
i'm a feral child

you can't tame the woman in me
can't tame her
you can't tame the woman in me

you can shoot me down
you can tan my hide
you can bend my spirit
lord knows you tried
but my soul is mine
and mine she'll stay
you couldn't hold her anyway

you can't tame the woman in me
that scare you way off? brother go!
can't tame the woman in me
you ought to know better than to try
  
i'm a hazardous climb
i am out of reach
i'm the big blue ride
all the way to the beach
i am free fall
and i'm gliding on through
not a thing
not a thing
you can do
to tame the woman in me
  
© 1998 Rennie

Monday, 2 November 1992

Suicide Tomorrow

i'd jump but
the machine is running
can't miss your message,
counting on your call

i'd jump but
i can afford to waste
one more day

i'd jump but
life is no bluer
than the sea &
death would be bluer
than that for me

ol' death came close
i seen her,
black hole
heart & soul,
crawling back to life,
i said

i'd jump but
like the sea
i've had a enough
gravity for one night

i'd jump but for
these boots would
headline before me, cos that’s all I have on, and
i never much
liked these boots

i'd jump but
there's a life to be had
i would..

i'd be glad to jump but
there's all that summer fruit coming round with the
season to be merry

i'd jump but
i'm bound to
get a bit by
Christmas

© 1992 Rebecca Rennie

Saturday, 1 December 1990

Homemaker Bay ***(favourite)


here we are upon the fence, no comment, no pretence
no, the safest way is homemaker bay
where doo-das sip, some have their say
ho hum

at homemaker bay tra la
time to be listless tra
longlingly contemplate hmmmmm the hibiscus
cutting the hedges and 
all those other clipped wings of passion
we’re new aged om o om
we’re green-fashion

oh homemaker bay la la
daisies & green plots
suburban inertia, our staggering camelots
oh joy la la la

Sunday, 1 October 1989

picollo hall


paved parade of demolition
degradation
lost eyes bobbing
faces falling from faces
from dreamlands & sad other places that
fortune & fame
laid flat

name one old jester not left standing
lonely
on that stage he built for one & only
then...& only then..

lure me under canopies of plastered stardom
corner cafes late night lattes &
short bleak hopes of brighter lights

vestibules of chipping glass
where loners sip their last soliloquies
don heroic reflection while longing to fall
with the faces falling
from faces from dreamlands & sad other places
that hang in the piccolo hall

© 1998 Rennie

Thursday, 1 October 1987

CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ

Inspired by the Novel

1
we are the centuries
the memorabilia
we bury your dead
and your lost babylons
rolling over and over
all that is gone
we lick out stars
with the tongue of our new dawn

2
yes, we are the centuries
in cadence behind you
we have your bloody hatchets
and your hiroshimas, we have you
and march in spite of hell we do
to tread on towards the wall
lick out all that goes before us
with the tongue of our new dawn

3
the children of merlin
lie blood-stained in their vestures
the petals of the rose are signed
there was no justice there,
the children of eve
are forever bulding gleams of eden
fury kicks them down
O FIAT VOLUNTAS TUA

4
the poet, poor foolish man
lies dreaming, lost amidst the rubble
he knew a world consistent with
its madness & frigidity
while choirs chant high decibels
FIAT CANTICUM
to the falling of lucifer
the raising of a hell

5
we are the centuries
the buzzards of time
devouring the carcus of history
thrashing our wings
on the window of fate
we are full-fed & soar toward our destiny

 6
abbot zerchi weeps for utah
glazed eyes turned toward high almighty
DEUS FIAT LUX he cries
DEUS MISEREATUR
are we so weak we cannot hold
this swinging pendulum?
doomed to fall & fall
and fall again?

7
ignorance had been our king
unchallenged on the throne of man
till truth was crowned a prince
and in the quest to understand
the flame & fury rose
kings shook hands
in no token of truce
only mutual respect between foes
between lands

8
the visage of lucifer climbs to his feet
a titan grown weary of
an age in imprisonment
mushrooms cloud o'er carousels
turning in the park, no chldren
left to play now though,
not now the world is dark

9
what burnt libation lies below?
what savours rise from our carnage shrine?
no sacrifice, no sheep, no goat
in tribute to our lord our god,
but a holocaust of his own son's blood
we snuff the scent & thurifer
in the falling
of our lucifer,
yeah, we snuff the scent & thurifer
in the falling
of our lucifer

© 1987 Rebecca Rennie
(Quotes from "Canticle" acknowledged)

Tuesday, 1 September 1987

Us

you say fast things are fragile
so we slow a while,
build us solid as rock...
meanwhile...

shuttles take flight -
in three hours two orbits -
dead men in sped-fed trucks ride water-slide highways -
roll on over time limits & live...

nor will I take my time over you

© 1987 Rebecca Rennie