Of war and peace the truth just twists
Its curfew gull it glides
Upon four-legged forest clouds
The cowboy angel ridesWith his candle lit into the sun
Though its glow is waxed in black
All except when 'neath the trees of EdenThe lamppost stands with folded arms
Its iron claws attached
To curbs beneath holes where babies wail
Though it shadows metal badgeAll and all can only fall
With a crashing but meaningless blow
No sound ever comes from the gates of EdenThe savage soldier sticks his head in sand
And then complains
Unto the shoeless hunter who's gone deaf
But still remainsUpon the beach where hound dogs bay
At ships with tattooed sails
Heading for the gates of EdenWith a time-rusted compass blade
Aladdin and his lamp
Sits with Utopian hermit monks
Side saddle on the golden calfAnd on their promises of paradise
You will not hear a laugh
All except inside the gates of EdenRelationships of ownership
They whisper in the wings
To those condemned to act accordingly
And wait for succeeding kingsAnd I try to harmonize with songs
The lonesome sparrow sings
There are no kings inside the gates of EdenThe motorcycle black Madonna
Two-wheeled gypsy queen
And her silver-studded phantom caused
The gray flannel dwarf to screamAs he weeps to wicked birds of prey
Who pick up on his bread crumb sins
And there are no sins inside the gates of EdenThe kingdoms of experience
In the precious winds they rot
While paupers change possessions
Each one wishing for what the other has gotAnd the princess and the prince
Discuss what's real and what is not
It doesn't matter inside the gates of EdenThe foreign sun, it squints upon
A bed that is never mine
As friends and other strangers
From their fates try to resignLeaving men wholly, totally free
To do anything they wish to do but die
And there are no trials inside the gates of EdenAt dawn my lover comes to me
And tells me of her dreams
With no attempts to shovel the glimpse
Into the ditch of what each one meansAt times I think there are no words
But these to tell what's true
And there are no truths outside the gates of Eden