Smuggling Smoke

I’m a broker by day
Even broker by night
We deal in shades of grey
Green fading into white

Delivery’s done
Fortune’s won
Pockets stuffed
With burning dough

Another run
Under the gun
Just a little less
Than I owe

Standby for the catch-phrase king
Rumbling toward his reckoning
Hanging on to his buzz
By a very thin string

Superhero quick
And Houdini slick
Slinging dreams
From his bag of tricks

Dancing fast
With danger and doom
As a cloud of glitter
Spins the room
Sustained by adrenaline’s sonic boom

Filled to the brim
With vinegar and piss
Guess I always knew
It would go down like this

You ain’t got to be no prophet
To see the wiring in the walls
Just take a look
At the history books
The big ballers always fall

Once I thought you were the Devil himself
With Heaven in a bottle
Sitting right on your shelf
But when the Reaper arrives
To ring your bell
Bet you’ll turn a profit
Smuggling smoke into Hell

Zipping past at the speed of need
Wherever desperation drips
Sucking poisoned seeds of greed
On the short side of the flip

Can’t spare a second to sniff the roses
Hey, there’s enough cocaine
On this here plane
To numb ten million noses!

I’d sell you my soul
But it’s already sold
Traded to the trolls
For some shiny Mule’s Gold

You ain’t got to be no prophet
To see the wiring in the walls
Just take a look
At the history books
The big ballers always fall

Once I thought you were the Devil himself
With Heaven in a bottle
Sitting right on your shelf
But when the Reaper arrives
To ring your bell
I bet you’ll turn a profit
Smuggling smoke into Hell

The game started getting
Grim and gruff
The men in suits shuffled in
Talking tough
And bursting with bluff
Down for a round
Of no one wins

They ambled over to the table
And laid out some heavy stakes
Though they said they might be able
To cut someone a lucky break

This business of chemistry
It’s all a thin-lined blur
The edge of integrity
Where sleight of mind occurs

So if I loosen my collar
It’s ’cause this heat is a drag
Bet doughnuts to dollars
It’ll be the mule with the bag

You ain’t got to be no prophet
To see the wiring in the walls
Just take a look
At the history books
The big ballers always fall

Once I thought
You were the Devil himself
With Heaven in a bottle
Sitting right on your shelf
But when the Reaper arrives
To ring your bell
I bet you’ll turn a profit
Smuggling smoke into Hell

Look, the dealer’s done
Said the Fed
And your head’s
Stuck in a noose
If you ever want to sleep
In your own bed
Better lay your cards down loose

Go ahead
And take this pen
Before the deal
Comes round again
‘Cause the guilty ones
Draw a deuce
But the innocent
Get sent for ten

Please, please, please
Don’t you plead
No, please, please, please
Don’t you plead
I swear we’ll all be freed
So please, please, please
Don’t you plead

Oh, no, sir, I’ll take my odds
You can keep your devil’s deals
Praying silently to all the gods
Every lip stays zipped and sealed

Oh, let me relieve your doubt
Save us all a little time
There’s no more point in holding out
Your friends, they dropped the dime

Truth’s reduced to poker chips
Sweat’s thick enough to drown
If so much as one word slips
That house of cards comes tumbling down

It’s all about timing
And being where it’s at
When the temperature is climbing
Go bust the thermostat

Teapot whistle screaming
Mercury’s gone to your head
Everybody scramble
Hatter’s mad
And seeing red

You ain’t got to be no prophet
To see the wiring in the walls
Just take a look
At the history books
The big ballers always fall

Once I thought
You were the Devil himself
With Heaven in a bottle
Sitting right on your shelf
But when the Reaper arrives
To ring your bell
I bet you’ll turn a profit
Smuggling smoke into Hell

January 19, 2017. Category: airlift, Word Jazz.

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