I Stand (song in support of the Canadian Freedom Convoy)

by Larissa Thomas © 2022

There’s a man in the headlines

And he’s telling us what to do

He took away my freedom

And he took away yours, too

Some of ya haven’t figured it out

But soon enough ya will

So I stand with the truckers

On Parliament Hill

I stand with the truckers

I stand with the brave

I stand with the people that I love

And I stand with people I hate

No matter what your race

No matter what your creed

Let’s come together now

In the name of being free

Hold hands with your neighbour

And throw away your mask

Hug a lonely stranger

Hell, even share a laugh

Life ain’t supposed to be about

Feeling safe while living scared

So I stand with the people

Facing down the winter’s glare

I stand with the truckers

I stand with the brave

I stand with the people that I love

And I stand with people I hate

No matter what your race

No matter what your creed

Let’s come together now

In the name of being free

I stand with the young

And I stand with the old

I stand with the ones inside

And the ones out in the cold

I stand with the workers

And I stand with the stores

I stand with the nurses

And the ones on the ground floor

I stand with the middle class

And I stand with the poor

I stand with the ones who did their best

And the ones who slammed their door

No matter who you voted for

No matter what ya believe

We gotta stand together now

And find our way to peace

With hearts wide open

With faces to the sun

May we stand together now

May we all stand as one

Ready for Chaos

by Larissa Thomas © 2022

Crying eyes

Prying thoughts

Ready for the brawl

Ready for the loss

Stores will shutter

Dreams will fold

Families torn apart

Heart and bone

Here come the grifters

Here come the cons

Here come the monsters

Here come the mobs

But I’m ready…

For the chaos…

To unfold…

Racing pulses

Washing minds

Ready for the lunacy

Ready for the crimes

Regimes will topple

Right hands will fry

Houses invaded

Darkest of times

Here come the wolves

Here come the walkers

Here come the snakes

Here come vultures

I’m ready…

For the chaos…

To unfold…

Hungry children

Wilting old

Ready for the heatwaves

Ready for the cold

Empires will crumble

Kings will fall

Cities torched to the ground

Leaders on the wall

Here come the heroes

Here come the saints

Here come the martyrs

Here come the brave

A little too slow

A little too late

But —

I’m ready…

For the chaos…

To unfold…

Oooooooh

Aaaaaahhh ...

Mother Knows Best

by Larissa Thomas © 2020

Mother told me I was gorgeous

Mother said I was smart

Oh Mother, how could you?

Your lies are tearing me apart

Mother, now I’m a failure

Now I’m a pest

No one left to love me

I’ll disappear like all the rest

But Mother knows best

Oh Mother always knows best

Oh, Mother knows best

Oh, she knows…

I had a chance at love

But Mother didn’t approve

I gave it my all

But I was destined to lose

I was never taught

How to take care of a thing

Mother kept me useless

On her key ring

But Mother knows best

Oh Mother, she knows

Oh, Mother knows best

Oh, she knows…

Oh, Mother knows best

Oh Mother, she knows

Oh, Mother knows best

Oh, she knows…

Mother told me I had talent

She said I could be a star

Father drank himself to death

It was just us in the Bell Jar

Mother’s milk was tainted

With the poison in her soul

She never felt wanted

And used me to plug the hole

Mother filled me up on love

And now I’m old and fat

Mother weaned me on deception

Now I suckle, I suckle! on regret

But, Mother knows best

Mother always knows best

Mother knows best

Mother, she knows…

But, Mother knows best

Mother always knows best

Mother knows best

Oh, she knows

When mother died

And I had no one to hold

I went searching in the night

But the women fled in droves

I couldn’t understand

I thought I could make 'em see

Oh, I’d show them

What dear Mother saw in me

Now I’m in jail

And they’ve thrown away the key

I’ve got nothing but my soft hands

And my vivid, my vivid! memory—

of Mother!

Mother always knew best

Mother knew best

Mother, she knew…

Mother knew best

Mother always knew best

Mother knew best

Mother, she knew…

Oh Mother….

The only woman

I’ve ever loved

My dearest Ma

The only breast

I’ve ever touched

Is my Mother’s

I can still smell her Calgon

But now she’s gone…

MooOOOooOootheeeerrrr

MAAAAMAMAMAMAMMAMA

*suck suck*

PAPER

by Larissa Thomas © 2021

Who pays for the paper

Who wheels the grease

Who wields the power

Who oils the machine

Who’s gettin' fat

And who’s gettin' rich

Who’s hidin’ in their bunkers

While people get sick

You won’t find it in the paper

Not today

Paper bombs

Paper planes

Paper guns

It’s always the same

Hey, look over there

At the paper

Today

Where’d they get their smiles

Is it from the Sunday funnies?

Or cuz it’s the workers

Paying all the tax on the money

Who sold our children’s future

So they could turn a profit

Who passes the buck to

Jesus and Muhammad

You won’t read it in the paper

Not today

Paper warships

Paper chains

Paper catastrophes

It’s all the same

Hey look over there

At the paper…

Today

Who thinks they’ll live forever

While the masses die of cancer

Who tracks your every moment

Then deems themselves your master

Who’s pulling all the strings

With ends tied in nooses

Who gets rid of their old

When they become a nuisance

You won’t find it in the paper

Not today

Not tomorrow either

Paper trials

Paper campaigns

Paper elections

It’s always the same

Pour yourself a coffee

Keep playin’ the game

Don’t you ever look up

From the paper

Cuz you just might go insane

Who feeds you poison

Instead of real food

Who pollutes the ocean

Then blames it on you

Who tells you it’s your fault

The ice caps are thawing

They’ll be safe behind their gates

When the mobs start forming

You won’t read it in the paper

Not today

Paper pills

Paper plagues

Paper cures

It’s all the same

Read all about it

In the paper

Today

Pigs to the Trough

by Larissa Thomas © 2021

You had a good job

You liked your friends

But the news kept telling you

It was the end

You wanted to drown your sorrows

And that Kool-Aid sure smelled fine

They wouldn’t sell it if it was bad

So you drank from the chalice of swine

Everyone you love, they said

Is evil and corrupt

You got nowhere to turn now

So in Media you trust

You blamed your family

your love turned to hate

Over Christmas dinners

You broke a dozen white plates

You got angry at your neighbors

But you didn’t know why

So you clung to the notion

Hey, at least you’re a nice guy

Does the Kool-Aid taste good

Is it purple and sweet?

Filling up your diaper

Sucking on the government’s teet

Believe what they sell you

Cuz advertisements don’t lie

The media cares about you

More than your own kind

Trust us, keep suckin’

Line our pockets with your life

Don’t listen to the skeptics

They’re just full of spite

First, you get fat on it

Later, you get drunk

Now the Kool-Aid’s all you crave

Fillers, lies and junk

It’s in your veins

And it’s in your bowels

It curls your tail

And grows your jowls

Maybe deep down you know

The purple stuff ain’t that right

But it’s all they serve on the funny farm

And you gotta eat tonight

It’s too late to turn back

You’re already hooked

To admit that you were wrong

Means you got taken by crooks

Does the Kool-Aid taste good

Is it purple and sweet?

Filling up your diaper

Sucking on the government’s teet

Believe what they sell you

Cuz advertisements don’t lie

The media cares about you

More than your own kind

Trust us, keep suckin’

Line our pockets with your life

Don’t listen to the skeptics

They’re just full of spite

First, you get fat on it

Later, you’ll get drunk

Now the Kool-Aid’s all you crave

Fillers, lies and junk

Pigs to the trough oink oink

Keep lapping it up

Don’t worry ‘bout those wolves

Eyeballing your big guts

It’s getting on, and you’re all alone

Where oh where, did your comrades go

Put your face back over the trough

And keep watching the show… little piggy

And as the wolves eat you alive

You’ll think to yourself

That at least you did the right thing

Selling your soul for the elite’s wealth

Suffer the Children

by Larissa Thomas © 2021

A band of dukes high on a hill

Had everything they could want

But that wasn’t quite enough

So they began to plot

They summoned Him from Hellfire

And called a town meeting

When their wish was granted

Everyone had front row seating

The Devil rode in on a Pale Horse

Pulled up, said I got an offer

The rich in town get richer

It’ll only cost your daughters

He coughed and he wheezed

And said that he had to run

If you want to win a prize

It’ll only cost your sons

Suffer the children

Suffer the fools

Hand them a long rope

They’ll tie their own noose

Careless talk costs lives

Give hope to those you’re crushing

To dwell makes poor

Helping instead of talking

Some of the townsfolk deliberated

Didn’t like how that sounded

The dukes plied them with false hope

Until their judgment clouded

It’ll be just fine, they said

In the end we’ll be better off

Just a micro amount of time

We promise we’ll go soft

The Devil left them in a cloud

Of dirt, poison and disease

And as the Dukes danced in their castle

The youth began to weep

Suffer the children

Suffer the fools

Hand them a long rope

They’ll tie their noose

Careless talk costs lives

Give hope to those you’re crushing

To dwell makes poor

Helping instead of talking

They locked the kids in cages

Told’em it was for protection

If you’re good boys and girls

You’ll be rewarded with confections

They picked kids off most every night

They went from street to street

A procession through the town

Celebrating children’s defeat

They gagged ‘em nice and tight

So no one had to hear ‘em cry

The adults looked the other way

Praying for better times

Suffer the parents

Suffer the schools

Who is to blame?

The compliant or the rules

As the dukes cheered

From high on their hill

Thinking for yourself, they said

Makes others ill

Some folks had a bit of remorse

And really stopped to pause

But they were reminded

It’s in service of the cause

So, they set their kids on fire

Scorched their skin to ash

And they thanked the Dukes

For handing them the match

The Devil came back to collect

The leftover hearts and bones

When he rode off they realized

No children alive were known

The townsfolk wailed

In their empty homes

Looking at the carnage

Oh god, what had they done?

Without songs of the young

Without a meaningful existence

They threw themselves on the pyre

As the devil laughed in the distance…

The Muse (poem)

By Larissa Thomas, © 2019

I think I’ve been neglecting my Muse

She used to show up every day

Now she has to pencil me in.

Maybe I took her for granted

I can change.

I caught my Muse being unfaithful

She’s been with someone else

⁠—I think.

Now she’s whispering to them.

The things she used to whisper to me.

Maybe I can fix it.

I can fix it.

My Muse has been rehoming our darlings

She takes them while I sleep.

Now my abode is a disarray of Post-Its, notebooks

Holes where ideas used to be

Maybe she’ll leave me if I don’t stop her.

I’ll stop her.

I’ve been considering leaving my Muse

She never picks up when I invoke her

She says she’s having more fun with her new “friend”.

Maybe I can find a replacement Muse. Can’t be that hard.

She’s about reached her mileage anyhow.

My Muse is a whore.

She came home covered in someone else’s smell.

Stinking. Soggy. Hickey’d. Depleted.

I pushed. Tore. Plunged. Lubed.

But the fruit in her tomb had been picked clean.

My afflatus was flaccid. It was her fault.

I woke up with burning blisters. A stardust allergy?

Figures.

I need to get hard.

So.

I cut my muse to pieces and left her for dead.

I told everyone what a lousy pray she was.

No one will want her again.

I haven’t even thought about her in a while.

muse has found someone new.

They’re happier than ever.

Good for them.

I don’t need a muse anymore, anyway.

Because silence is a virtue.

And I have nothing left to say.