Live in the Empire of Fools

Prisoners of War

In Those Gardens

(Words & music by John Terlazzo)

John Terlazzo – vocals, guitar & harmonium. Kristina Machusick – vocals & flute. Jacob Thro – lead guitar.

In those gardens by the ancient walls where first I beheld your form,

Where the Gods had trod by the waterfalls in the days before the storm,

There grows a pear tree, there stands a stone by which I touched your hand.

In mud & fire the world conspired to transform this man.

I’d been orphaned, pelted with rocks, missing in action for years,

Whipped by centurions, sold on the blocks, the king in his electric chair.

When the crowd dispersed, got their money’s worth, the smoke began to clear.

It’s as if my eyes could finally see, my ears at once could hear.

And in these realms of havoc where nothing is insured,

Beyond royal seals and broken deals the Name of Love endures.

O White Goddess, O heart so rare, when you entered the house of my soul,

The fruit grew ripe on the tree of pears, tho’ the ground was wrought with snow.

If I’ve not spoken from the depths of my gratitude to tell,

It’s only because I cannot find the bottom of that well.

If I could grasp every truth that’s dawned on every great mind –

What they don’t understand about the Fair One to the theorems of Einstein.

If I could taste the colors of the sun as it melts into the sea,

None of it could taste so sweet as what you’ve given me.

I love you more than the rains that pour in torrents on the land,

More than the scores of passions stored in the palms of my two hands.

My Love for you rolls on & on – it’s more than I can speak,

More than all that’s rolled, all these years, through the banks of Muddy Creek.

Songs of Experience & Innocence, the songbirds of this Earth –

None can be so sweet to me as the songs you made in birth.

Land, possessions, riches, schemes, testaments & dreams,

Nothing carries weight for me like the fruit that falls from your tree.

Ecstasy & Longing

In Those Gardens

THE MISTS OF ALGIERS                                                         Terlazzo

Are you still standing, you who were chosen?
I’m told you never once flinched when they bid you drink the potion,
That you moved like a Goddess through those temporal explosions,
And your Dance was exquisite – every reckless motion.

Fall down before her, down on your knees.
Lay low your offering of bakhoor and lilies.
Show her your breastplate, the holes made by spears,
But don’t raise your gaze on the mists of Algiers.

How precious your eyelids, tattooed in kohl –
Forged where the voice rings the smoldering soul.
I have faith that you’ll transcend the poison in your bowl
And rise above all you’ve seen down in that hole.	

Fall down before her, down on your knees.
Lay low your offering of bakhoor and lilies.
The phases of the moon move through the spheres.
Don’t raise your gaze on the silhouettes of Algiers.

All I thought I was and all I thought I knew
Now turns to ash and dust – it’s never felt so true.
And the amrit floods the tongue, washes down over my chest.
I’ve come through the furnace untouched, and passed the test.

Fall down before her, down on your knees.
Lay low your offering of bakhoor and lilies.
Show her your breastplate, the holes made by spears,
And humble your gaze on the mists of Algiers…

Mists Of Algiers V09

SHADOWS OF THE PYRAMID

Drain the red wine from this Lover’s chalice.
Step lightly into these streets of clay.
Leave everything behind in the Pharaoh’s palace.
Be not afraid of the hands of a slave.

Cross the sand on a moon-starved and starless night.
We will leave no tracks where the hounds and the jackals bay.
I will be the song in your mouth and give wings to your flight.
Be not afraid of the hands of a slave.

There’s a song so sad no singer can sing it,
And it lies in the valley like a wind that’s died.
There’s a dream so mad no dreamer can dream it,
But I am that kind of slave and I will dream it tonight.
I WILL MEET YOU IN THE SHADOWS OF THE PYRAMID
I WILL MEET YOU IN THE SHADOWS OF THE PYRAMID
I WILL MEET YOU IN THE SHADOWS OF THE PYRAMID
Lay low in the reeds of the Nile.

Let fall your silver gown, dismiss your maid-servants.
Paint the lids of your eyes with the darkest of stains.
Loose the strings of my harp, bare your breast to the dark.
Be not afraid of the hands of a slave.

There’s a song so sad no singer can sing it,
And it lies in the valley like a wind that’s died.
There’s a dream so mad no dreamer can dream it,
But I am that kind of slave and I will dream it tonight.
I WILL MEET YOU IN THE SHADOWS OF THE PYRAMID
I WILL MEET YOU IN THE SHADOWS OF THE PYRAMID
I WILL MEET YOU IN THE SHADOWS OF THE PYRAMID
I WILL MEET YOU IN THE SHADOWS OF THE PYRAMID
I WILL MEET YOU IN THE SHADOWS OF THE PYRAMID
Lay low in the reeds of the Nile.

Shadows of the Pyramid

HEART & SKULL                                                          Terlazzo & Engle

When the thieves descend upon you, their great horses snorting fire
O Awakened skull, courageous Heart
When the hungry ghosts surround you, quoting hypocrites & liars
O Awakened skull, courageous Heart
When your holy trumpet’s broken, acid rains upon your tongue
O Awakened skull, courageous Heart
When the ogre’s jaw is opened as if Paradise is done
O Awakened skull, courageous Heart
Malice will not serve you, vengeance only makes you ill
A warrior’s twice a tyrant if greed pollutes his will.
Drink your draught & break your bread before the mouth of Vajra hell
Courageous Heart, Awakened skull.

I’ve heard the mighty dragon moaning in its musty cave
O Awakened skull, courageous Heart
Drained the emperor’s flagon transcended the grave
O Awakened skull, courageous Heart
Been drowned in the flood of lies that spews forth from their teeth
O Awakened skull, courageous Heart
Thrown down in the realm of pride, where it really gets deep
O Awakened skull, courageous Heart
Anger cannot heal you, it can only make you blind
A warrior’s twice a fool if violence makes camp in his mind
Cast off the yoke of ignorance – let the blaze consume your soul!
Courageous Heart, awakened skull

When you’re visited by demons, bright mirrors in their bloody hands
O Awakened skull, courageous Heart
Then dance upon the tables, this chance might not come again
O awakened skull, courageous Heart
Indulging in self-righteousness for far too many years
O Awakened skull, courageous Heart
Do we serve Liberation, or do we serve the King of Fear?
O Awakened skull, courageous Heart
Malice will not serve you, vengeance only makes you ill
A warrior’s twice a tyrant if greed pollutes his will
Drink your draught & break your bread before the mouth of Vajra hell
Courageous Heart, awakened skull

Heart & Skull

THE WHITE PEACOCK CRIES
I arrived in moonlight from Macedonia, maybe a thousand years ago – who’s to say? / I wove sheep’s wool for the tribes of Anatolia / Still my chest lies open to the ice & the rain / We dined on carob & figs ‘neath the poplars – spanakopita, rice & great rounds of cheese / You can purchase Paradise, they said, for a few drachmas – But I’ll barter entry on the price of my dreams / Behind each tender, sentient creature / We encounter in that old olive grove / Where the moonlight grows white on those features / A secret is hidden deep beneath the soul / What can be said of misfortune’s strengthening riches? / My moustache drenched in dark wine & tears / The Heart torn & sewn up with stitches / Left to exile on the lonely road to Algiers / And the fires are set in the bloodstream / And the voices knot up deep in the chest / For those giants from the sea and those holy libertines / Let us suckle now at the Great Mother’s universal breast / Behind each tender, sentient creature / We encounter in that old olive grove / Where the moonlight grows white on those features / Within all matter some story longs to be told / Like an Amazon she rises from the ocean / Foam like white skirts hiked high on her thighs / She sways, gleaming, with the most graceful motions / The moon pours down like milk as the white peacock cries / We think we know the tale, the old story / At every turn we bellow it out loud / I want a deathless form of poetry / Unwound & unveiled of its sorrowful shroud…  (words and music by John Terlazzo)

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