My Noises are Voices
lyrics & music by Joe Henderson
copyright © 2012
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My noises are voices
for ears like sonic noses
Hear Here!
Garbage trades hands
with hands like ladles
from ladle to cradle, Hansel & Gretel
left to starve in the woods by red-faced peasants
making cuts demanded by kings who roll diamonds in paper towels
From the rising Atlantic Ocean
to the crumbling Pacific rim
The narrative of America
is being rewritten by the Bros. Grimm
My noises are voices, my noises are voices
Chimichangas filled with babies
eaten by giants in absentia
gaunt pygmies with dreams
of becoming Gargantua
egging on the appetites of the greedy
while sitting in their mouths
& all they can do
‘twixt the chompings & killings
is to sell what they steal
by chipping gold fillings
My noises are voices, for ears like antennae
A pink killer robot in suit & tie
spouting jargon & power points & mannikin hair
exposing his junk bonds like he don’t care
lands his vulture-shaped craft
casting a shadow from sea to darkened sea
announcing he could make things run more efficiently
by eradicating what he sees as pesky vermin
& promising collaborators a portion of fortune
he pulls a lever and purges the landscape of all humans
then scoops up the ruins
for his Machine Von Neumann
My noises are voices, my noises are voices
The great leader who is dead but not forgotten
was brought back by his name continually spoken
by wannabees fighting to be heir to his throne
they saw him lurch in and let out a groan
his hair & suit were immediately recognizable
but some declared that it was advisable
for the time being at least to keep him hidden
’cause his face was a bit worse for being worm bitten
they begged him to choose whom their new leader should be
but rolling one yellow eye around at them all, said he:
“Depart from me–I never knew ye.”
My noises are voices, my noises are voices
