Betsy's Gift, by Amory McKeever

Is this all that I have
to feed the brave?
Does this soup feel blessed
to fill the free,
the dirty faced,
the bloody kneed?

Whose bayonets
have red-coats to shred,
and dash apart,
for each slice of bread.
They fight for me,
yet go unfed

With each letter home

another heart is breaking

though the battle wages

they will never yield

a homeland worth making

They'll die in the snow,
and upon the fields,
while rockets glow.

With their stomachs aching,
is this all that I have,
in a land of plenty?

Is this lowly meal
all we have to toss
upon the altar of freedom,
to pay the cost?

[chorus]

May this star spangled
muster the angels!
A valkyrie for immortal souls
who on this field, paid the toll

Long shall they march

From Brandywine

to Bunker Hill

we fold our hands

to the divine

for liberty is never free

these young men

will pay the bill

Their cheeks are pale,
their eyes are glossed.
You can see the war
has become their cross

So I shall craft a blanket
to warm the youth,
the farmers, the merchants,
the scattered troops.
I will sew it with stars
to guide their way home,
stitched on the blues
they wore to defend.
Bound to white stripes,
as white as the light
they may see in the end.
Combined with the bandages,
though deeply stained red,
reminders to their children,
what was bought by the dead.

May this star spangled
muster the angels!
A valkyrie for immortal souls
who on this field, paid the toll

May this star spangled
muster the angels!
A valkyrie for immortal souls
who on this field, paid the toll

May this star spangled
muster the angels!
A valkyrie for immortal souls
who on this field, paid the toll

Laid to rest

out of many, One

a nation blest

their freedom won

It's Alive!, by Amory McKeever

These lungs full of tar 

Desperately need CPR 

Crown stains the kidneys 

Anger stirs within me 

All the time I spent usin' 

Left my liver in ruins 

Hemorrhaging bruises 

From years of abuses 

The heart has been broken 

By heartless words spoken 

But life isn't over 

So reset the shoulders 

I deserve what was promised 

By charlatan prophets 

Now break open this coffin 

My spirit is locked in 

Then sew peace to the pieces 

Before entropy increases 

Crank it up to eleven 

Send me up to the heavens 

Goodbye form full of scars 

Now I'm one with the stars 

Of parts I am more than the sum 

The truth is flesh overcome

The Haunt, by Amory McKeever

Young and locked and loaded

Skills in tracking you have honed

The meadow is a dance floor

The call of the wild is Patron

Be sure to line up every shot

And Hope to take her home

Another stuffed and mounted

But you're still camping all alone

The brag is for your friends

To see how well you've killed

The sheets there to remember

All the tags that you have filled

Now in the cold of morning

There's no one by your side

Your belly may be full

But your soul's empty inside 

Now the game knows you well

Your reputation walks before

They hear you coming from a mile

Soon there's no targets anymore

And then you finally realize

Standing old and in the mist

That the real and honest prize

Is the one that you have missed

Xenophobia, by Amory McKeever

Sitting in my favorite chair
searching for a song to sing,

when silently I felt it creep
into everything

Looking at the nails rust

in a foundation fettered,

I could've swore I built this

insane asylum better

Ask myself a question,

were these walls to keep me in?

Or is it that I couldn't stand

being outside of them?

Funny thing about sunshine

it evaporates the rain,

but wearing all that sunblock

exacerbates the pain

Seems everyone is farming

in land they didn't till

Only to find the seeds they planted

never flower for the mill

Those pilgrims all go hungry

starving for attention

Even though their plates are empty

the truth is never mentioned

That mirrors seldom ever show

what they don't want to see

In their quest to keep it real

they became as fake as fake can be

I begin to understand again

what crawled inside my head,

that made me a recluse to some

And to others I was dead

It was a revelation,

and it quickly drove me mad

That everyone's a stranger

xenophobia I had

Come, Clarence, Come, by Amory McKeever

His boss sent his job overseas
The bank pulled the house

From underneath

When she took the kids to aunt Bernice

And left him there begging

Down on his knees

He ate two barrels of sweet relief

Singing

Come, Clarence, Come

Come, Clarence, Come

Our bells are ringing

If you want the wings

And we just need your help for once

She was a beautiful being

Made him a home, gave everything

But when it was a baby

That she couldn't bring

He betrayed their bedroom

With a younger fling

So she went down the road

And across the street

Sank in a bath of sweet relief

Singing

Come, Clarence, Come

Come, Clarence, Come

Our bells are ringing

If you want the wings

And we just need your help for once

Another night with nothing to eat

A refugee with worn out feet

When the rebels come from the east

To rip her to pieces

If she doesn't believe

She'll play another game

Of hide and seek

Scream her lungs to the west

for sweet relief

Singing

Come, Clarence, Come

Come, Clarence, Come

Our bells are ringing

If you want the wings

And we just need your help for once

It's not that we wish we weren't born

We just wish we were born for more

That we weren't just staying alive

That we had a wonderful life

Injustice is Blind, by Amory McKeever

You can't equally feel like somebody's property

You can't equally feel like you've been a victim

You can't equally feel like you're an outcast

You can't equally feel like you're alone

You can't equally feel like education has failed

You can't equally be trapped in a poverty

You can't equally be abused by the system

You can't equally be gunned down by a badge

You can't equally be attacked in your home

You can't equally be hauled off to jail

You can't equally experience sexual atrocity

You can't equally experience disproportionate income

You can't equally experience real social contrasts

You can't possibly be the subject of this poem

You were unfortunately born a heterosexual white male

We Sacrifice Virgins, by Amory McKeever

She never felt the touch
always just a crutch
and when he finally got his legs

she was out just like a clutch

he used her up

like a parachute

and when he landed

cut her loose

So in she goes

another volcano blows

The pressure builds

finds a crack

pops its top

red and black

She never felt the words

always just the hurt

and when he finally sobered up

he was gone 'round the world

left her behind

the clean the mess

while he ran off

chasing dress

So in she goes

the magma overflows

the pressure builds

finds a crack

pops its top

red and black

She never knew the kiss

always just the fists

and when he had his fill

she was the last thing on his list

She never made him whole

always just a hole

and when he finally packed his things

empty bags and empty soul

Here she goes again

the eruptions never end

the pressure builds

finds a crack

pops its top

red and black

So in she goes

another volcano blows

The pressure builds

finds a crack

pops its top

red and black

Well Armed Sheep, by Amory McKeever

I can't wait to see the wolves
dashed to pieces in the snow
Never again fear their incisors

bayonet those fucking misers

until every single acre grows

Covered with human fertilizer
countless fallen brutalizers

so every single mother knows

raise her children to be wiser

Know what to open their eyes for

so every single father knows

there's nowhere safe for crooked tongues

Don't raise a wolf within your sons

To break the pack of their power

throw their bodies down the tower

We're stronger than they ever were

Give those bastards a bullet shower

and over their baskets plant no flowers

Settle our debts with their fur

I can't wait to see the wolves

answer for everything they've done

beg mercy when the scales come

Our guillotine will never slow

For years and years they had their fun

dealing with devils for our young

while their cup already overflows

but now wolf season has begun

stopping only when the last one's strung

Truth Be Told, by Amory McKeever

That I have not yet fallen apart

Doesn't mean I was well made

That I do not cry out loud

Does not prove my face is straight

All my survival demonstrates

Is what it takes to make a heart

Hammer forged and machine lathed

Turned a thousand times around

Sanded down to its substrate

Until an invulnerable surface found

One that can't be torn to shards

Can't be smashed and never fades

That's the craftsmanship it takes

Then with that indestructible mound

Attach to it every scrap of weak

Glue every piece of sad and lame

Strap every ounce of liar and fake

Bolt it all to that bedrock of plate

So I can pretend it's what I'm about

And masquerade as a sum of my parts

Across Galilee, by Amory McKeever

Even though the blind can see 

Such miracles across Galilee 

He'll still give up his life for me 

Whips and chains would make him bleed 

But the son of love does not concede 

My savior withstands everything 

So they nailed him to a tree 

And placed a stone so no one could see 

They laid inside the king of kings 

I fall to my knees and pray ...Lord 

Nothing else will save the world 

No one else can save the world 

Then he broke free from his tomb 

And traveled home to prepare room 

For those of us still left behind 

He washed away the stains of sin 

So in heavens arms we can meet again 

And walk together side by side 

I fall to my knees and pray ...Lord 

Nothing else will save the world 

No one else can save the world 

I fall to my knees and pray ...Lord 

Nothing else will save the world 

No one else can save the world 

The prince of lies has been slain 

By a perfect lamb with a lions mane 

Rise up and praise his holy name 

Nothing else will save the world 

No one else can save the world

Ordinary, by Amory McKeever

Outside 

Out where the trees touch sky 

Sunlight 

Kisses the leaf just right 

And this gift 

That brings forth the green to life 

Were it rare 

If it happened just one time 

Tonight 

Held in her arms so tight 

Inside 

Dynamite sparks the nuclei 

And this gift 

That brings their new baby to life 

Were it rare 

If it happened just one time 

Miracles 

A thousand times a day 

A million different ways 

Ordinary miracles        

His might 

We've turned a cold blind eye 

Our sights 

Are no longer set on high 

But his gift 

That bring sinners back to life 

Were it rare 

If it happened just one time 

Miracles 

A thousand times a day 

A million different ways 

Ordinary miracles 

  

We overlook this wondrous 

Paradise made just for us 

Expecting something loud and clear 

While our father whispers in our ears 

A thousand times a day 

A million different ways 

Ordinary miracles

Undiscovered, by Amory McKeever

On one side heads is life,

on the other tails it's not,
then we flipped a trillion times,
and this is what we got.
Now we know the coin is fair,

because here we are today,
but is there life out there,
is it a galaxy away?

The problem is we're stuck

in our own imagination,

that with just a little luck

we'll find space communication.

Except intelligence is diverse,

there are dolphins don't you know,

and across the universe,

there may not be a radio.

Life could be a flock of birds,

extraterrestrial jellyfish,

there may be aliens in herds,

just not the kind we wish.

So busy looking to the stars

from the comfort of our home,

that we forget just where we are,

in our house we're not alone.

So how will we treat these strangers,

if we discover their existence?

If it's anything like our neighbors,

they better keep their distance.