O I today
Sad as Chu Yuan
Stumbled to the store
In broiling Florida October
Morning heat cursing
For my wine, sweating
Like rain, and came to my chair
Weak and trembling
Wondering if I'm crazy at last
- O Chu Yuan! No!
No suicide! Wine please wine!
What shall we all do
All knowing we're dying
Without wine to guide us
To winking at death
And life too --
My heart belongs
To Chinese poets
And their scrolls
We cant just die
--Men need wine
And poetry
at least
O Mao, poet Mao,
Not Boss Mao,
Here in America
Wine is laughed at
And poetry a joke
--Death's a grim reminder
to everybody already dead
crashing in cars all around here-
Here men and women dryly scowl
At poets' sad attempts
To make our lot
Lesser-
I, a poet, suffer
Even for bugs
I find upsidedown
Dying in the grass-
So I drink wine
Alone-
I shudder to think
How dead
The astronauts
Are
Going to a dead
Moon
Of no wine
All our best men
Are laughed at
In this nightmare land
But the newspapers preen
In virtue-Throughout
The world the left and right,
The east and west, are both vicious-
The happy old winebibber is gone-
I want him to reappear-
For Modern China preens
In virtue too
For no better reason
Than America-
Nobody has respect for the cat
Asleep, and I am hopelessly
Inadequate in this poem
-Nobody has respect
for the self centered
irresponsible wine invalid
-Everybody wants to be strapped
in a hopeless space suit
where they cant move
-I urge you, China,
go back
to Li Po and
Tao Yuan Ming
What am I talking about?
I don't know,
I'm sick today-
I didn't sleep all night,
Walked stumbling in the field
To get wine, now I'm drinking it,
I feel better and worse-
I have something to say to Mao
And the poets of China
that wont come out-
It's all about how America
Ignored poetry and wine,
And so does China,
And I'm a fool
without a river and a boat
And a flower suit-
without a wineshop at dawn
-Without self respect-
-
-Without the truth-
but I'm a better man
than all of you-
that's what I
wanted to say
Running Through / Chinese Poem Song Lyrics performed by Warren Zevon are property and copyright of the authors, artists and labels. You should note that Running Through / Chinese Poem Song Lyrics performed by Warren Zevon is only provided for educational purposes only and if you like the song you should buy the CD