Copyright jim ferguson 2018
Scotland, You are Holier than thou
back in the 1690s
we used to burn witches,
half a dozen children
from Paisley Cross
strangled and burnt
for dancing around
after dark on the braes
these were our ways
holy ways, holier than thou
back in the 1720s
people were gaoled
for putting on plays
ah, theatre
that thief of priestly magic
and fully immoral displays
these were our ways
holy ways, holier than thou
back in the 1820s
for resisting
industrial tyranny
hundreds were gaoled,
for putting the many
before the few
and placing reason
above royal religion
some were murdered
and others betrayed
these were our ways
our holy ways, holier than thou
and now it is time
to pick on the feckless
drug addicts, drunks and the sick
to make an example
of daft young men,
of the poor
of the mad
and the weak,
blame the blacks
blame the fans
blame the unemployed
and the queers
for society’s falling to bits
it’s time again, you say,
to dish out the misery,
to indulge in
calvinist catholic sadistic prayers,
it’s time for vengeance
it’s time again, you say,
to make the deviants pay
such are your ways, oh Scotland,
these are your ways
your holy ways,
so much holier than thou
jim's collection the art of catching a bus & other poems is available from AK Press of Edinburgh.
the Scottish Book Trust believes that AK Press does not exist but if you try to order the book you will find that it definitely does exist.
Click on cover for link.
links to poems on youtube...
links to more of Jim's poems in on-line publications...
if Roberto Bolano is right about one thing
it is
that a writer needs plenty of time to dream
big dreams, little dreams
crazy dreams, real dreams
sweet dreams, bad dreams
it doesn’t matter what kind
as long as there is time for the dreaming
*
it was then i held her left hand
in my two hands and said,
i love you.
but i don’t love you, she replied.
*
this is why long hours
working in low-paid jobs
doesn’t do any good
for anyone
who wants to be a writer
and
this is what the real
unfortunates stuck real fast
in low-paid shit employment
will find difficult about the writer
- why do writers need all that time to dream?
of course
the fuckers who will never
grasp the remotest possibility
of what this dreamtime means
are the slightly higher paid wankers
who boss the low-paid around
at least the low-paid have dignity
those little hitler bastards who boss them
they aren’t worth a fuck