Ordinary Person

A.S. I have never read The Cantos and don’t plan on doing so.

Sister Margaret’s resignation

1

It’s time for me to leave the nunnery, 

And become a pioneer of modern gunnery.

To Agnes and Augustine, I’m no longer tied, 

I’m a gun moll and I need my Clyde.

2

enough of vespers

and choir singing  

enough of habits

and cloisters, 

I’m ready for a life

of explosive sin 

Pierre André, the pornographer

Ah Mademoiselle,

I’m glad to see you, 

you’ve come all the way from America,  

so, tell me, petite baby,

when was your first time? 

I cannot take my eyes off you! 

Ah Mademoiselle, oui, oui,

I have surprises for you. 

The self-proclaimed prophet’s descent into madness

They asked me to heed

the religious call, 

and I didn’t know if

I must walk on fire, 

now lust and life

both don’t enthral.  

They asked me to heed

the religious call; 

I wear a tattered robe

with a grey shawl,  

my circumstances

are so very dire.

They asked me to heed

the religious call,  

and bloody hell,

I walked on fire! 

Chorus

Let us sing together/ of the fall of man/ of crazy ideologies sprouting from crooked lips/ as insane as a bird with eight wings and five eyes/ or a green pockmarked moon, spinning out of orbit/ or a black sun, not a black hole sun, just black.  

Ida’s story

I was once a good girl, 

roaming the streets of Paris 

with a lust for life, 

until I met Pierre. 

now I enjoy the things  

I mustn’t, and I don’t know 

the difference between  

right and wrong. 

My boyfriend hates me. 

Pierre André, the pornographer (Part 2)

Ah Mademoiselle, there is no right  

and wrong. Who are you to  

say what’s normal? Sex is sex 

and love is love. They’re separate,  

petite baby. Ah Mademoiselle,  

your boyfriend should understand. 

Chorus

Let us sing together/ of the fall of man/ of crazy ideologies sprouting from crooked lips/ as insane as a bird with eight wings and five eyes/ or a green pockmarked moon, spinning out of orbit/ or a black sun, not a black hole sun, just black. 

Repeat (x5)

Photo by Hasan Almasi on Unsplash