Austerity

Pouring whiskey in dried-out bodiesCoarsely hewn by wood and loveDeep inside them smolders slowlyThick as yeast, green bitternessHelpless, their eyes are blindAnd all their thoughts are simpleTheir ears are deafAnd all their songs are trivialTheir loves have gone sourAnd all their looks are vacantTheir food is foulThe art they make lacks the challengeAll their minds are emptyAll their thoughts are simpleAll their songs and books are trivialAll their ears are deafBirds who once flew with passionNow they're easily caught with bare handsLocked in cages, learning their lessonsBullets for the already-deadTasteless, our tongues are dumbAnd all our speeches are hollowOur minds are numbAnd all our books are hollowOur lobes are sourAnd all our looks are vacantOur food is foulThe art we make lacks the challengeAll our minds are emptyAll our thoughts are simpleAll our songs and books are trivialAll our looks are vacantBirds who once flew with passionCan easily be caught with bare handsLocked in cages, learning their lessonsBullets for the already-deadCan you still seeThe starsThe SkyThen layers of grey?They're fading away...Can you still see the stars?It's hard to think of the oceanWith the sweet stench of piss in your hairMorning air still invades every wallpaper cellYear after year after yearAll these years those walls were emptyCurtains yellowed, now white of moldLardy plaster, the paint is peelingFrom the ashtray: swathes of blue smokeCorrosive watersBlack rain falls the seventh timeUnyielding minds of coalJaws open wideThey changed the bedsYearly white sheets weeping like shroudsThis is the chamber where their god spent his final hourCan you still the stars through layers of greyOr have the city lights taken their place?The stars are fading awayawayawayawayEyes leap at the baitWe march in circles under Jupiter's swayEyes fall prey to the cheatOne more surrender and we'll suffer defeat