Disco Inferno

three years old
lost in a sea of bikers
sucking down beer
and pb&j
sitting on a strangers hog
protected by the Angels
who dance in the inferno
wondering if my mama cares

crazy lady
with the speedy ups
and manic downs
gyrating through her illness
never call her mama
but I am hers
mama's daddy told me so

he stood at attention
when she tried to give me away
see, marines never leave anyone behind
he saved me from the system
but not from her

you should hear her stories
the ones she tells of God
how he spoke to her like some
mirrored crystal ball
through a haze of smoke
and voices
like it was a good thing
how she denied hell and the devil
and that's how Jesus saved her
from the loony bin

who saved me from her?
who saved me from this hell
this crazy dance?

Jesus,
yeah, I'm talkin' to you.
when you handed your book
to that sick, dancin' mama
why didn't you hide
"spare the rod
and spoil the child"

I know how that dance gives
me the blues
black and blues.

And when I hear that music
that seventies music,
it brings me back,
to her
and my own personal
disco inferno