The Mercy Seat

  It all began when they took me from my home and put me on                   Death Row         a crime for which I?m totally innocent you know.                                   I began to warm and chill        to objects            and their fields     a ragged cup a twisted mop        the face of Jesus in my soup          those sinister dinner deals      the meal trolley’s wicked wheels     a hooked bone rising from my food     and all things either good or ungood.          And the mercy seat is waiting      and I think my head is burning     and in a way I’m yearning to be done with all this weighing of the truth.                                 An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth     and anyway I told the truth and I’m not afraid to die.                                             I hear stories from the chamber Christ was born into a manger                            and like some ragged stranger he died upon the cross.         Might I say it seems so fitting in its way     he was a carpenter by trade or at least that’s what I’m told.                                       My kill-hands tatooed E.V.I.L.        across it’s brother’s fist     that filthy five! They did nothing to challenge or resist.                   In Heaven His throne is made of gold                    the ark of His Testament is stowed               a throne from which I’m told all history does unfold.     It’s made of wood and wire and my body is on fire     and God is never far away.               Into the mercy seat I climb my head is shaved my head is wired                                  and like a moth that tries to enter the bright eye     I go shuffling out of life just to hide in death a while     and anyway I never lied.            And the mercy seat is waiting      and I think my head is burning    and in a way I’m yearning to be done with all this weighing of the truth.                                An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth     and anyway I told the truth and I’m not afraid to die.                          And the mercy seat is burning      and I think my head is glowing     and in a way I’m hoping to be done with all this twisting of the truth.                                 An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth      and anyway there was no proof and I’m not afraid to die.                                And the mercy seat is glowing        and I think my head is smoking     and in a way I’m hoping to be done with all these looks of disbelief.                               A life for a life and a truth for a truth     and I?ve got nothing left to lose and I?m not afraid to die.                           And the mercy seat is smoking       and I think my head is melting     and in a way that?s helping to be done with all this twisting of the truth.                               An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth     and anyway I told the truth but I?m afraid I told a lie.                   ( ) (3x)