In Babylon

 

From Eden to the land of Nod

Cain went under the curse of God,

            The man who knew no pity;

And having slain his brother found

An unoffending spot of ground

            And builded him a city.

 

Then brick on brick and stone on stone

He raised a tower of his own,

            Full fit to be a prison;

Now walled within he stands despising

This bondage of his own devising

            And wonders how it’s risen.

 

Now glass and girders, steel, cement

Assail the stars and firmament

            Till he has near forgot them;

Now earth, air, water, hills, and trees

Become the chattel (he believes)

            Of those who’ve paid and bought them.

 

In Babylon where rivers run

Hot as serpents in the sun,

            Cold as souls of misers,

Upon the ladder’s lowest rung

My people’s harps and hearts were hung

            As prey for advertisers.

 

And they were taught with deft aplomb

To scale the heights; they clawed and clomb

            And nearly touched the heavens.

So sapped of all humanity

And flush with fell urbanity,

            They eat their bread with leaven

 

Where bleak barrages pounce from perches

Over streets, and cable searches

            Homes with hooks and talons;

Where baited pleasures lead the lured

Down precipitous paths insured

            By congressmen and felons.

 

 In Babylon did Genghis Khan

Turn profits on the White House Lawn,

            Then ringing up the churches

He called a meeting of the Board

To barter for their Golden Hoard

            And hanged them by their purses.       

 

In Babylon where I was born

My wings were clipped, my locks were shorn,

            And I was made the target

Of researchers and analysts

And celebrated panelists

            Who put me on the market.

 

And now that I’ve been marked and sold

It seems my story’s all been told

            For those who’ve ears to hear it;

So marvel not nor weep for me

But get thee to a nunnery

            Or lose both soul and spirit.