Can, and Will Be, by Amory McKeever

Anything you say
Anything you do
Can, and will be
Used against you

My shield deflects any criticism
about how I treat my fellow citizen
Your civil rights are awfully cute
but power is best when it's absolute
Step out of the car and walk the line
forget what I said it's taser time
Ooops, that wasn't my taser I wager
I'll just claim that my life was in danger
I get a vacation if you try to resist
you reached for a gun, I'm the only witness

Anything you say
Anything you do
Can, and will be
Used against you

I have no duty to protect and serve
pop with my Glock if you touch a nerve
Peaceful assembly to protest the State
tell me how does pepper spray taste
Kickin' in doors like I was in Iraq
down on the floor with my knee in your back
I don't even know if I have the right place
still gonna to throw a flash-bang in your face
Cryin' and screaming is all part of the game
ten minutes later I've forgotten your name

Anything you say
Anything you do
Can, and will be
Used against you

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes
(I feared for my life)
These boots on your neck
come in so many sizes
(I gotta get home to my wife)
That blue line is so much thicker than thin
How can you stop the corruption and win
(I'm just following orders)
When it starts at the top and trickles down
Justice slowly dies to a siren sound

Anything you say
Anything you do
Can, and will be
Used against you

Out of Place, by Amory McKeever

Where are my starry campfire skies

Replaced by coca-cola lights 

Olympians say shut up and buy 

A plasma screen is worth the fight 

Beast versus beast in a Walmart line 

The last elusive hunt for time 

Where indeed are my carrier pigeons 

This handheld device feels so cold 

Every one of these electric widgets 

Sends my words in Sans-serif bold 

Yet the meaning is lost along the way 

The frontier has been uprooted 

Where's my covered wagon train 

When dirty jeans were suitably suited 

No Amber waves on my FaceTime 

Just purple mountain grown chi tea 

Ninety-nine years cut down in my prime 

They can't prescribe a life for me 

While I assure my friends I'm fine 

I scatter to the wind a tumbleweed

Glacier, by Amory McKeever

Oh, them frozen bodies
floating down the maw
Poor bastard climbers

all victims of the thaw
Slain by the peaks

they sought to traverse
Only to find their hearts
riding in a hearse
What mountain is this
they challenged in vain?

T'was a Matterhorn of sorts
Shall I tell you her name?

Her eyes like wishing wells
begging for the silver

Her lips little liars
that whisper in your ears
Such breathtaking beauty
that much is clear,
but if you get too close
she'll send you down the sheer
So let this be a warning
if her face draws you in
You'll find you're not alone
in a graveyard full of men

Gold Diggers, by Amory McKeever

There is a land up north 

Where love is forever 

This just in, a report 

the weather is better 

Milk and honey flow 

if you follow the letter 

But this invisible cupid 

is a black arrow cherub 

For the narrow road he knows 

his quiver is loaded 

They mob for the route 

and bottleneck at the mouth 

I can't budge in the panic 

It could be the traffic 

or it could be my doubt 

As they clamor for lanes 

I buy my way out 

They call me insane 

the only one driving south 

It's not sour grapes 

there is gold in them hills 

But I would rather be poor 

than rich and on pills 

They will all mine the quarry 

and their children will too 

Addicted to the story 

blind faith makes it true 

Until he lets fly the volley 

that blots out the sky 

Every generation of folly 

dies wondering why

Acceptance Speech, by Amory McKeever

May the sweat of my brow

drip down into ink

flow out of this pen

everything but the sink

escape from my heart

like it was years in the clink

May the past not repeat

memories made of lightning

count down to the thunder

the truth may be frightening

with no rock to hide under

There won't be an encore

life's a one hit wonder

When my father loved lying

more than my mother

though it made me who I am

it fucked up my brother

forced me to build a family

from pieces of others

new siblings selected

now thicker than blood

they deserve to be respected

and they know who they are

stepped up when I needed

bandaged my wounds

when it was sanity I bleeded

so that someday I might be

a better tree than was seeded

Grow up from that compost

that resembled my life

and bloom into something

worthy of my wife

and the love of my son

who looks up with pride

I can't be like my genes

they're stained with such failure

it took the effort of my homies

to wash out the trailer

to remind me each day

that I only look like my dad

it's all up to me

to be good or be bad

A Pie to Die For, by Amory McKeever

Oh that boysenberry tart

Stick my fork into her heart

Get that fructose on my lips

The bittersweet of innocence

Roll it over behind my tongue

Squish between my ring and thumb

All over me the spill of love

Thrash around like pigs in mud

Two, three, and four times now

Until she's sore from heel to brow

Devour lustily her mess

And finish with a cigarette

Oh what a mix

That sweettooth fix

Sugar high comes too soon

I just want to lick the spoon

Oh what a mix

That sweettooth fix

Sugar high comes too soon

I just want to lick the spoon

Oh that marionberry crepe

From her grip there's no escape

The way the chef moves her hips

My batter mix just can't resist

My hands knead her caramel scones

Roll her over into prone

Brace for impact carefully

And fill her with bavarian cream

Two, three, and more times still

Until I can't muster the will

Mind willing but my body's drained

By her love so unrestrained

Oh what a mix

That sweettooth fix

Sugar high comes too soon

I just want to lick the spoon

Vanilla and cherries

syrup and berries

Oh what a mix

That sweettooth fix

Sugar high comes too soon

I just want to lick the spoon

Oh what a mix

That sweettooth fix

Sugar high comes too soon

I just want to lick the spoon

Tarsus, by Amory McKeever

I'll be the thread

If you'll be the loom

I'll bring all my baggage

If you'll make the room

I'll bring my tired eyes

If you'll help me to see

I'll come to the middle

If you want to meet

Take this broken heart

give me a second chance

a fresh and brand new start

No I'm not asking for much

Just a road to Damascus

No I'm not asking for much

Just a road to Damascus

I'll be as stubborn as ever

If you'll be patient with me

I'll insult you and blame you

If you'll forgive everything

I'll bring my ears

If you'll clean out the wax

I'll try to run away

If you'll stop me in my tracks

Take this broken heart

give me a second chance

a fresh and brand new start

No I'm not asking for much

Just a road to Damascus

I'll weep for who I was

If you'll dry my tears

I'll walk through the valley

If you'll conquer my fears

I'll be the man that you want

If you'll call me to be

I'll believe in you

If you'll believe in me

Take this broken heart

give me a second chance

a fresh and brand new start

No I'm not asking for much

Just a road to Damascus

No I'm not asking for much

Just a road to Damascus