friend of a friend

Cain got a milk-eyed mule from the auction.
Abel got a telephone.
And even the last of the blue-eyed babies know,
That the burning man is the color of the end of day,
And how every tongue that gets bit always has another word to say.

Cain bought a blade from some witch at the window.
Abel bought a bag of weed.
And even the last of the brown-eyed babies see,
That the cartoon king has a tattoo of a bleeding heart.
There ain’t a penthouse Christian wants the pain of the scab, but they all want the scar.
How every mouth sings of what it’s without so we all sing of love.
And how it ain’t one dog who’s good at fucking and denying who he’s thinking of.

Cain heard a cat tumble limp off the rooftop.
Abel heard his papa pray.
And even the last of the black-eyed babies say,
That every saint has a chair you can borrow and a church to sell.
That the wind blows cold across the back of the master and the kitchen help.
There’s a big pile of innocent bones still holding up the garden wall.
And it was always the broken hand we learned to lean on after all.
How God knows if Christ came back he would find us in a poker game.
After finding out the drugs were all free but they won’t let you out the door again.