Candlelight douses the dust in amber.
Wallpaper peeling, gathered at your feet.
In your left hand rests a picture of her.
In your right, your cowardly retreat.

Hemp fibers laced gently around your arm.
Cautiously you unwind this man-made snake.
Tossed to a beam in this forgotten farm,
you've found the home of your final mistake.

Stepping on stage, the warmth ensnares your neck.
Tied taut, the noose calls you as an old friend.
You cry now, lost within this dreary wreck.
You pray to dead gods. You have found the end.

Your feet meet air. With a gasp you are gone.
A life wasted, another soul withdrawn.

Reality rings a rust-filled bell,
chiming for a mass unspent.
A dress and suit tied at the waist.
A bond never escaping the pits of hell.

A hermit dies alone, pining for what never was.
A widow dies alone, pining for what was lost.
I miss you, I do, and always shall.
This is life, this is the past, this is the future.
So now, I bid you farewell.

The wind shifted the hedge's shadows
over the shattered glass.
An alleyway, sparked by fire's warmth,
a mirage, built up by the rain.

A hermit sat in his house upon a hill.
They watched.
They grew up here.
The flames licked at their toes.
The waves crashed and reflected their pain.
A fence divided them line by line.

They knew then what they wanted to do.
They knew then it was time to go.
They knew then that they must grow up.

Adieu Adieu, I love you too.

And then it was gone.

All that remained were embers and soot.

I still
wear your
spirit
around
my neck

Perhaps it makes me a madman.
Perhaps it makes me a fool.
But I have to say darling
it's true.
I'm still in love with you.

Love until the catacombs whisper your name.
Your skin turns to ash and memories fade.
Love through the pain of the fire and flame,
as you are stabbed again by its dull blade.
For only then will you see the world's worth.
Then and only then will beauty give birth.

Battered, bruised, abused, and betrayed, you wait.
You ponder, and your patience may wear thin,
but the sun shall rise, and hand you your fate.
Soon my friend, you shall purge your deepest sin.
So, sit by the candlelight, rest your eyes.
I promise you son, true love never dies.

Imagine my surprise when my eyes spied
you staring from over the garden wall.
Blinking so gently, your doll at your side,
your freckles glowing, I counted them all.
A minute held forever in my mind.
The first and last moment had of this kind.

You ran away, a shadow of a ghost.
I sat and pondered. Were you in my head?
I glanced back and forth, from pillar to post,
but you turned to ash, the moment was dead.
So I turned and slumped, tired and annoyed.
Years later your eyes still pierce into my void.

I am the man behind a marble mask.
You are a muse, you are my final task.