artist McMonty

All lyrics & Music written & performed by Luigi Monteferrante aka McMonty.

SNAKE CROSSING

LUCKY

Bottle caps

She peaks under

Hoping to win big

Cash

A Brand New Car

A Cruise on the Caraibe

She’ll have some more

Pop those caps

1-2-3 

While looking to score

After Monday Night’s Fight

…

Wiping my glasses

With my tie and shirt

The pain won’t wipe away

You’re going

Leaving today

And my staying

To wipe the pain

And not coming back

To say

I’m not coming back

To say

I’m not coming back

And I’m wiping my glasses

With my tie and shirt

But the pain won’t wipe

Wipe away

What time did you say

I’m not coming back

With my tie and shirt

With pain I soak

SITTING ON A BENCH

SNAKE CROSSING

And I’m just sitting on a bench

A daddy’s pushing a baby carriage

Mommy’s smoking dope

Nanny’s bawling

In a miniskirt

Sister’s cooking up a storm

Who on earth

Wrote this

In the sand

In fact

I love you

Toujours

Now who’d want that?

A plane scorched white

Bled the azure sky

With pilot zeroing in

On a hit

While pusher flips a coin

Hooker a trick

And I’m just sitting on a bench

Read the paper

Or a book

Well-read

And well-informed

Glance to watch the show

Of parents

Lovers

And teens

All out strolling by the light

Of the moon

The pond is lapping ashore

And turn to the book

Or the paper

You can’t read

Your eyes clouding

With tears

Help me remove myself

From this

Trap

My self

THE SINKER

SNAKE CROSSING

The kitchen sink

Is bled with acrylic

Head of horse brush

In a cocktail glass

With a logo

Cindy’s Bar & Grill

No sign of day-glo

Or even an electric rainbow

In the glass of paint

And murky water

A masterpiece distilled

So full of ideas

That kitchen sink

And the toast

Tastes like turpentine

Almost better -

The cheapo wine

And the punk jazz

Disco bash

From a tinny speaker

Makes it all sound

Pretty neat

Especially as

It’s public radio

We support

By paying taxes

And making donations

In your Marat-like tub

You paint prose

In blood

Because it looks good

When she gets home

The student artist runaway girl

She moved in

With you

In exchange for rent

Fellatio

While you stand

The artist

Teacher

Prof

Suds bleeding from your pores

With paint

The intensity of your feeling

Much too much

You sit on the tub

Very much the thinker

Walk through the studio

In the nude

Only to wrap canvas

On your bod

If I were Jesus

Be this my shroud

What you said

On which you erupted

Your sex

And then collapsed

To suckle a fool

That was her school

So she suckled two

And both of them grew

One to be Cain

One to die – Abel

If this then be true

Dash out the fool

Save Cain

From being Cain…

HOME ALONE

SNAKE CROSSING

Bring me the ale
Turn on the sports channel
Let me sit here
And watch TV
I won’t take crap
And listen to chit-chat
No home and garden
Or the kid’s poor grades
So they’re misbehaving
Good for them
If they’re going to turn out
Like you
No – bring me an ale
Turn on the sports channel
I’ll have two beers
And watch me TV
And brings me some eggs
And a bag of fries
That’s all I’ll be having
For tonight’s dinner without wives
I don’t care about curtains
Or dumb lampshades
Your latest diet
Some Dr Perkins
Yes- bring me some ale
And toss me a sausage
That’s all I’ll be having
Besides my massage
The lawn needs a shave
The tree’s broke into the porch
The car – it’s been stolen
And the wife – she’s making a fuss
‘cause – you guessed it –
They took even the children
So she called the police
And they came screeching real quick
Then minutes to game time
They were out in a flash
I’ll just sit here and watch
The hand on the ticker
One thing’s for sure
One day – she’ll pull the trigger
‘til then I say
Bring me an ale
Turn on the sports channel
Get out of the way
Or get out of the house
Leave me alone
Or I’ll find me a home

IOU

SNAKE CROSSING

I owe
Banks
Parents
In-laws
Landlord
Car-rental
Tax lawyer
Government
And plenty more
A handful of love
And a bucket of fun
I owe them all
IOU All these things
And plenty more
Which I promise I will pay
If you pray
I live long
A thousand years
The time to pay
The wrongs
I did
The deeds
I owe

REICH’S BOAT

SNAKE CROSSING

The U Boat

Across the Atlantic

Is bound to establish

A master race

In Atlantis

With what remains

Of the Reich

The traitors

And staff

Of shoe-shine boys

Whores

And  cleaning agents

A master race

In reverse

And mirror image

Of those master boys

And handsome dudes

Goebbels Hitler and

The Party of White Trash

Sons of Cain and Abel

Adam and Eve

And whoever else

Wants to take the credit

Go ahead

WHAT’D YOU SAY?

SNAKE CROSSING

Packed my bag

With good luck

And was heading south

On the magic bus

And there I was

Smiling with a grin

Looking at the sights

And taking it all in

When a guy in a uniform

Came strutting down the aisle

Punching holes and stubs

And he looked at me and said

Hey son

I ain’t your son

You got a ticket?

I ain’t got one

You gotta have a ticket

Well, I don’t have any

You can’t ride the bus with no ticket

Well, if I can’t be riding

I’ll sit tight

And you move on down the aisle

Don’t come back

‘til journey’s end

What’d you say?

And I told him

I’m heading south

But I’ll just pretend

I ain’t here

And you ain’t seen me

Alright

That’s the way it is

‘s what I did

And what I said

So I ended up walking

On route whatever it is

And stopped at a crossroad

Not knowing where to go

When a fancy car raced by

Spun my heels

Picked me up

Right off the ground

And there I was

In this dame’s Cadillac

What’d you say

Praise be Jesus

God is great

Look at me

With this hot date

I was lying by the pool

Soaking up the sunshine

With a girl named Olive

And a cool cat

Her friend’s Martini

And the sheriff staggered up to me – and said

We found a body

You know who it is

What’d you say?

We found this lady in your bed

Was she a red-head?

Peroxide blonde

Well, that can’t be her

And that’s not my bed

And besides Mr Sheriff

I got a friend

Her name is Olive

And that cool cat purring us some jive

That’s Martini

What’d you say?

I said you got the wrong guy

And that’s the wrong girl

So you move along now officer

‘cause you’re in my way

And I’m soaking up the sun

And you’re throwing shade on my lady’s buns

What’d you say?

I’m standing behind bars

And staring down the street

At the shoe-shine

Newspaper boy

Mailman, shopkeepers

And all them schoolchildren

Getting themselves an education

And they’re all going places

And I ain’t

Going nowhere

What’d you say?

I ain’t going nowhere

Well - you is

Be good

Don’t despair

What’d you say?

And the voice said

Be good

Don’t despair

I’m going places

And if this ain’t heaven

Is what I did

What’d you say?

Is what I did

DRANK WITH THE DEVIL

SNAKE CROSSING

Did the drunk devil

Drive the dead

During the double dare

I did

Drain the drudge

Drink the drug

Drive the devil

Into the dustbin

On a double dare

Drove the devil

To drug and drink

Drank with the devil

On a double dare

Double dare

Drank with the devil

On a double dare

Drug the drink

Drain the drudge

Drink it all

And drown – down, down, down

To the devil’s….domain

On a double dare

Double dare

Drank with the devil

On a double dare

NIGHTHAWK AT DAWN

SNAKE CROSSING

Nighthawk at dawn

Red-eyed and glint

Spilled pop

And liquor

Stink

The cigarette dangling

Wrong end

Lights the filter

And with nonchalance

Flips the cigarette

Fails to catch

No good for you anyway

Burns hole in his trousers

What the heck

Swipes nose with loosed tie

Skinny

And back in style

Cigarette legs

Two-tone shoes

He’s a huckster

Cap on his head

Tossed back with a grin

My head is splitting

With an ache

Oh what a laugh

How about another round

Of coffee

From the bottom of the barrel

Where I live

For the jitters

You know

Like this is The Big One

No one talks about it anymore

What happened to The Big One

Did it just go away

Or do we have bigger concerns

Guys in sheepskin threads

And matching shoes

Yeah well

Those were the good old days

When we were facing nuclear Armageddon

And everything else was pretty rosy

Now your hands are shaking

Look at that

Got to calm down

My nerves are shot

Face the day

For what it is

From womb to tomb

It’s all just killing

I used to think

But things are looking up

And it’s Sunday

Thank God

 And tomorrow’s a letdown

Back at The Job

And having to deal

With all that rubbish

And dull chores

That’s life

A little magic

The rest is dark

LADY IN THE LAKE

SNAKE CROSSING

No one you’d miss

At a party

No one you’d turn your head for

Do a double take

Watch her walk away

Stare

No one you’d care to sit by

In a subway car

Or maybe you would

She was a no-pressure zone

You’d settle down

And not notice

She wouldn’t make you fret

Or nervous

She wasn’t someone you’d do your best for

Or even try to impress

Go out of the way

And pray she’d notice

But she was mine

The lady in the lake

FATEFUL DAY AT THE TRAIN STATION

SNAKE CROSSING

In brown shirts

They parked the cruiser

In the swell of train passengers

Departing

The Eats

A fast-food chain

Was anything but

And yet it filled

With breeders

Mostly cross-eyed

And legless

Why do the limp

Congregate

At the station

Like metal shavings to a magnet

With no place to go

Except as bait

For nazi-skins?

A video game

With a gun

Shoot the mothers

Meaning the others

Books of romance

On display

All the love

Is up above

Said the news king

With the porno

Also in Braille

The sky is brown

Waves of heat

Off the chemical plant

And a fruitcake dips four fingers

In a cup

And sticks all eight

In his mouth

An undercover cop

Ready to tumble

Into the morass

Of incertitude

A lean mean teen

Flips a jackknife

Wants to play bocce

With somebody’s teats

A lady hangs out

Wet lingerie

Across the street

Where’s he headed

All of a sudden

Real quick

Boxed packages

Cardboard

And string

May stop inspectors

From tearing in

Stand behind

The yellow line

No please or gesture

Of good will

Are you or have you been

A member of any

Association or fraternity

League or union

Commission or party

Clan or institute

Linked to

Or favoring

X and Y?

No

Too bad

We were looking  for insiders

Move on

Customs inspect

Bags

Boxes

Trolleys

Backpacks

Parked cars

Trash cans

Most safe

One is set to win the sympathy

Of who

God knows

HEROES

SNAKE CROSSING

Whatever happened to

All the heroes?

Punks and rebels

Hippies and mods

Teddy boys

And growling grrrls

Kicking ass

A thing of the past

Like Dada and Dali

Max Ernst and Kandinsky

Whatever happened to

All the heroes - grandmothers?

Punks and rockers

Rabble rousers

Anarchists

And freedom fighters

And the likes of you

Angry young men

And women

Who spat conflagration:

Where’s my pension?

And my grant?

And you sputtering teeth

Found your pin

For services rendered

Many great thanks

Life Limited Co

From the staff

But it should’ve been

Stiffs

STUCK TO MY GUNS
SNAKE CROSSING

The coffeehouse is full

It always is

On a Monday night

There’s the game

A wet T-shirt contest

Live music during the intervals

A stand-up comic stands by the vertical piano

On which he’s spread Page Three

A fast one in a red dress

The Editorials

In the Daily Express

The wood is eaten through

Of the floor

And the tables rattle

The chairs shake

And the lighting is dim

So you don’t care

What’s in your soup

Or the pair of eyes

Staring back at you

With a droop

No

The only thing now

In here

Is the songbook

Never needed one

In my long career

Now I don’t remember

Words

Not in my head

Wonder where they went

That’s the music man

Ragged

As his blue jeans

His face and hands

And as dirty

And scruffy

His fingernails and boots

His voice

A saw across a metal pipe

And his hair

Oil slick after rain

And she pressed his hand

To the bitter pint

And smiled

And he held his guitar

Blanketed with decals

Where I’ve been

He said

Where I’m going

I don’t know

I’m here now

Ain’t I?

And off they went

My love:

The cigarette butt

In a pint glass

Lyrics from The Scene

Dirty sneakers

She wears

Jeans

In the street slush

Torn and worn

Her hems

Beneath rubbery heals

And a sooty coat

From a second-hand store

Behind the used records and tapes

Beneath the last chance hotel

She claws her nails

Hair from her face

None too clean

Nor too old

If only she would be

My mistress

You like ‘em dismal

Says my friend

I saw you watching

The more beat up

By their own self-abuse

The more your interest

Seems aroused – how come?

We’re walking town

Not that there’s anything wrong

I’m just wondering

And those were the days, eh

When I said nothing

As if those days

Belonged to me

They didn’t

The days

The scene

Or scenario

I thought – no

I was part of no scene

Or scenario – no

My hell’s kitchen

Had no home

No scene

Or scenario

It was a solitary scene

And scenario

And it had a name

Horse

BUCKSHOT

We sat in the back seat

Of a rusted station wagon

Parked on blocks of wood

Chopped from trees

In the fields of grass

Or meadows

And the windows

Spider webs on a frosty morn

And at its epicenter

A bullet hole

Instead of spider

And in the back seat

Between me and you

A bag of old bones

And we were wondering

Who it could be

Instead of

Could’ve been

Very much alive

To us

Me and you

For who could believe

We’d commit such a foul deed

Last spring

When playing with daddy’s buckshot

And who could believe

One shot was all it took

To do him in

So what could we say

What we said

Accident

But he’s got five

Five shots fired

One by one

And reloaded

One by one

And reloaded

I dunno

Was all we said

You’re the smart one

And you cried

While I sat smoking his cigar...(cont'd.)