Heads are gonna roll

Heads are gonna roll

by Kelp

Heads are gonna roll; 
And the smiles that were on, 
The faces that were on 
The heads will be gone. 

And instead
Just the heads 
Will be rolling, 
Rolling out of control, 
As they roll around and around 
Like clothes in a dryer, 
Or a front-loading washer, 
Except without detergent. 

And heads are gonna roll. 
And you lost control. 
And what you thought was urgent 
Wasn’t really what was urgent, 
And now heads are gonna roll. 

You didn’t watch your back. 
You didn’t check your facts. 
You didn’t do exactly what you should.
A miscalculation caused a sensation, 
And you didn’t make your boss look good – 
And your boss and his boss
And your boss’s boss’s boss – 
And all the little bosses in between – 
They’re all setting up the guillotine. 

And now heads – 
And including – 
And that means not excluding –
Your own lovely head – 
The one that you loved to lie on your pillow
When you lay in your bed 
In those moments when you tried to relax
With no cell phone and no email and no fax, 
But your mind was always brooding - 
Even while you were snoozing - 
You were planning, you were scheming -
Always setting some new goal –
But now it doesn’t matter – 
‘Cause your head is on a platter – 
And your head’s gonna roll.   

It’s gonna roll. 

And I don’t mean rock and roll. 
And I don’t mean R & B. 
I don’t mean jazz or soul. 
I mean roll. 
Without music, without tone – 
It’s gonna roll quite tonelessly – 
Unceremoniously – 
Stark and alone – 
No crowds, no fanfare –
No one to remember 
What you said, what you did. 
It’s gonna roll 
Into a hole -- 
And that’s it.