SLAUGHTER OF INNOCENCE The balding man sits compiling his next move That mortgage hangs around his neck, now feeling like a noose The new gas bill, oh God, how bad he feels Those kids he can’t reject, his emotional success He's a man of set opinion; the weight of the world sits in his hands He just cannot seem to reason so he will never understand They just won’t listen to hardly anything he says They simply smile politely, then with one accord turn away A son stands at the pond observing the creation that is nature Mother prepares dinner, roasting bacon taints the air Dog sits as master barks, then leaps lovingly into the car He waves and smiles emotionally, his assurance that they will go far The stakes rise as each owner unfolds plans, men tempt and bait each other, money exchanges hands Animal love now snarling hatred, muzzle unlocked hair raised He smirks from behind the wooden fence and shouts his destitute his praise Teeth tear, blood splashes the face of a young child playing She cries out in disapproval but daddy’s now immune to what she is saying Driven mad and into frenzy, limbs torn, skin is shorn Like sex perverts at their peep show, this is the ultimate in porn Eyes glare. Beast and master. Animals both, crazed and weary There can only be one real winner here; the results are now seen clearly Teeth marks bare where fur once protected, flesh hangs dangling in shreds Their faces grimace rejected strips of meat exposed, selected Bloodstains and saliva splatter the fuel of precious life Master and servant segregate the ritual sacrifice The sacrifice of innocents who obeyed the spoken law Tired beyond indurance but the spectators cry for more Death before dishonor a demand that is so obscene The men they appraise each other to keep their conscience clean Laughter hides the guilt they feel at every savage blow Someone whispers "cruelty" but they don’t want to know The balding man stands silent as slave fights for life He thinks of all the good things that he has promised to his wife She caught a glimpse of God through the windscreen of his car She tried to rationalise her looks but time don't heal the scars Some vague association she feels with the loser of the stake She stares into those sightless eyes, what use for heaven sake? The TV flickers images of the ideals she once knew The fresh young girls displaying soap to keep us clean and new She shrugs and folds her arms as he constructs the wooden box To hold his faded hope that took the heaviest of knocks Like pissing in the ocean, their options disappear As they think about the overheads, they know the taste of fear Kids to feed and clothing they must show how much they care But how to tell the birthday gift is lying dead out there What should have paid for birthday cards went on the prime cut beef Now celebrations of their birth make way for tears of grief Did only what they thought was best to give some sense of pride To give the kids a place in life and now the dream has died And how to show his love for her, now she repels his touch His remaining sense of manhood kicked away just like a crutch He promised what he couldn’t give, the masters ruling word Urged the beast to glory, but the servant never heard
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