CAESIUM 135 – A HALF-LIFE OF 2.3 MILLION YEARS
I feel like I’m fixin’ to die
My dingy soul grows sicker
Heart’s red flame
Drooping to a flicker
But one good thing about death
It’s not all harm
When I rise from the grave
I’ll grab God by the arm
And say ‘My Lord, My Lady,
Why did you give so many things
Stiffen me with greedy needs
Cover me with unitchable stings?’
I coulda been a forward scout
Bravely carrying your torch
I coulda made the desert bloom
Instead of continual debauch
I coulda been a force for good
Returning better than I left your hand
A shining angel of the book
At your throne to stand
You hummed me your choicest songs
And I sang every note leaden
You coaxed me toward the light
But I hurried to Armageddon
You gave me the best coaches
Jesus and his brother Buddha
But I couldn’t quit my squalid self
Bleating coulda shoulda woulda
So what do you have in store
For this comic hero
My soul flying like an arrow
Through the hole in a zero?
Will it be better in heaven
Or more of the same?
Every joy a sin
Feast after feast of shame
If this be so
And I lose my locomotive will
Please let me die on fire
Instead of sleeping still.
Graeme Farmer