Sodom And Gomorah

Chris Juris

From a foundered bar and out of the night that I spent drinking with drones

Into the misty Sunday morning blurring my vision and chilling my bones

I'm walking along the rows of the sleeping bums with faces of reality

Rust-red from facing the drizzling sky, chapped by the cold like the crumbling walls I pass



A huddled mass of rags and woe appears before me on the side of the road

I feel an empty callous sneer, another wasted life to bear

I shoot my eyes away onto the cobblestones, grab a cigarette inside my coat

Flashing arch of fire touches my tongue, I inhale as the smoke rolls round my lungs



And as I close my mind to this modern leprosy

His blood-red eyes leapt inside me



'God sent me here' he spoke in raspy tones, to friend the drunk, the sick, the weak and low

I've got an angle sidewalk style, skidrow Samaritans soothe men as they die

Sit for a moment, toss me a smoke, visions flash so clear, time is growing short

There's an emptiness deep we're all trying to fill, the more we consume, the less we feel



And my boots turned to flee from this inconsistency

But fire-blue words pierced like arrows and held me...he said:



In the candlelight of the dark hearts of men here in Sodom

Red angels cast silk shadows on these ancient walls

Raven screams as the number of prey increases

So many are lost, proud in their ignorance

Feel the wind change, hallowed in cursed days

I look inside and there's no answer within

And so I scream towards heaven aiming for that light

Through the colour of my smoke covered sin



Time lowers the coffin another spade is dealt into my hand

Better get the cards straight as the years turn into sand

Dear God above, won't you save my blistering soul

Before the fire burns and man rages out of control



Then clear eyes flash grey, gold face snaps pale, and back he slid to these rails

I watch a toothless blackened grin wrinkle up the folds of his yellowed skin

Run a hand through my hair to sweep the cobwebs free, entranced b