PREACHER CASEY
Broken down drifters and hobos and junkies
half dead on the ground
in a twilight hooker’s avenue
there’s another gang fight going down.
6:00 sound bites—the cnn news
got the latest on a hostage uptown
between inside and out of this satellite hell
It’s strange how it all comes around.
The young dudes have found a new voice,
a new church, and a new faith
this is the ghost of preacher casey callin’ from the grave.
Crippled young widows in cardboard boxes
say "i’m starved and don’t pass me by."
TV evangelists with bibles in hand
cruise the neighborhood most every night
new metal rockers at the top of the dial
say, "hey-hey alright."
While nervous ministers on tv debates
are comin’ on like the price is right.
No tellin’ now as they send a man down
what future they’re tryin’ to create.
this is the ghost . . .
Welcome back here to the ghetto now
there’s gotta be some good will left in this place
for as the big wheel turns the graffiti spreads
from the school-house walls, to the white house gates.
At the 155 hard rock cafes
the vigilantes talk out of their face
about the border patrols, US Sien Fien,
death-row-statistics, religion, and aids.
These are the days of political change
out here it all looks the same.
This is the ghost . . .
