Come young Sir,

To me, to me

Would you like to buy a Dream?

Or perhaps, a Memory?



Come to me,

I’ll let you peek

At what’s forgotten

Or what you seek

My whole stock is guaranteed

And the first look is always free



Of course,

They needn’t be your thoughts-

I’ve many more

That others have brought

Bought, or traded;

Even some I’ve finely wrought

Myself



Do you seek to become another?

Feel the touch of a forgotten lover?

I promise you, you’ll find no other

Who’s wares compare to mine!



Or would you rather sell a few?

Things best forgotten, never viewed

Tortured by some inner pain

Torn by guilt, wracked with shame

If you like, I can buy your bane

Away



I can take them off your hands-

For a modest fee, naturally-

I am, you see, a business man

But I’ll take good care of them,

Trust me, trust me



I’m backed by the bar, certified

My work really is a matter of pride

You’re already at my door-

Why not come inside?



So what’ll it be

What’ll it be?

Did you spy a pretty dream?

Or think some half-forgotten memory?



What’ll it be, what’ll it be?

Have a little peek on me…

Narcissus in chains
Head hung in shame
Where once was beauty
Now nothing remains
No other to blame
Self-bound and tamed
The pitiful, once proud
Narcissus in chains

A flower in bloom
Eventually wilts
Bright leaves growing dim
As essence is spilt
Lifeblood grows weak
Decrepit and stained
All pretty things fade
As the earth lays claim
Broken and twisted
Like narcissus in chains

Reflected in a pool
An image shows true
Until shattered and torn
By a rock falling through
Rippling, tattering
Illusion no more
Cracked and fragmented
As one's inner core
And what's left on shore
Now forever is changed
Who made you so
Oh, narcissus in chains

Time steals beauty
And flowers, they rot
Clear pools dry up
Their waters forgot
As things fall to change
One still remains:
The pitiful, once proud
Narcissus in chains

Adulthood's hour has come to call
Childhood's time has lost its thrall
The clock chimes now, a tolling bell
Marking the passing with every knell

No more games, no time to play
For fragile youth's long gone astray
No hobby horses or decoder rings
The time has passed for simpler things

Leave your toys to gather dust
Leave the playground alone to rust
Be one of us, the time is nigh
So hurry now, and say goodbye

To innocence and naïveté
Leave your hope out in the street
Put away your childish things
Here we have no use for dreams

Imagination's a liability
That clings with fervent tenacity
Put it away with your childish things
Here we have no use for dreams,
Here we have no use for dreams.

Dance, my little marionette,

You’d best complete your act-

Lest I send up Punch and Judy

To beat you blue and black!



Twirl and spin, my puppet;

But be mindful of your wires,

For if you end up torn and tangled

I’ll feed you to the fire!



Do your best to thrill the crowd,

But it best be good enough-

If my coffers don’t come back full

I’ll grind you into dust!



Listen to your master,

I am your puppeteer,

On stage I’m in control-

I am no puppet here



So sing and dance, my bauble,

And obey my every whim-

For the curtain, now, is lifting

And the show must soon begin

I wonder if there’s a place
Where the old gods go to die,
Those who’ve passed from memory
Or stayed long past their prime

In some graven crypt
Do they linger there to keep
Company to the Nameless Ones
Who’ve long since been asleep?

Do they crumble into dust?
Or crystallize in stone?
Or follow us mere mortals,
Flesh dripping from the bone?

Every god will see a day
When no one knows their face-
They’re all-to-soon forgotten
And another takes their place

Does Anubis wait alone
In some dank embalming room
With no one left to mummify
And too many empty tombs?

Or Odin sit upon his throne
No more warriors to call,
No one left to drink his mead
Or fill Valhalla’s halls?

And what of all the other gods
For whom prayer comes no more?
How long until they turn to dust
And cede the earthly floor

To the new gods seeking power,
Though in their infancy-
Of Machine and Spark and Wire,
Of Information, Electricity-

Even Jehovah one day too,
Will be a relic in the past
As Christians forsake their Christ
And praise the Almighty Flow of Cash

The time has passed for blood and bone
And of sacrificial days-
Technology now takes its place
To send the old ones to their graves.

This petal says he loves me,

And I’m as happy as can be-

All the love I’ve been searching for

Is right in front of me


This one says he loves me not-

I guess that’s plain to see

From the way he up and left

Without a word to me


Plucking petals off a rose

And bleeding from its thorns

We may play at being angels,

Yet each still have our horns


This petal says he loves me,

Of that I had no doubt;

But this one says he loves me not,

Or, it seems to have run out


I wonder if the flower knows

Or ever wonders why

I’m picking all its petals off

With ever-heavy sighs


Searching for an answer

I don’t really want to find

When all along I’ve known the truth

Deep within my mind


And yet I’ll pluck a dozen more

To find the answer that I’ve sought

Of whether he still loves me,

Or truly loves me not

Today I watched a flower bloom
To greet the morning sun
Unfurling petals one by one
As the daylight softly comes

When in full-bloomed splendor
Its fragrance filled the air
Turned toward its lover’s light
Without another care

How pretty are its petals
Swaying in the breeze
Rejoicing in its life
With simple-minded ease

But, as all things surely pass,
Did daylight turn to dusk
I saw it curl upon itself
To hide within its husk

Are we like the flowers,
Turning toward love’s light?
Only again to hide away
In the dark and lonely night-

To await our sun’s return,
For dawn to grace the sky,
To feel the warmth of sunlight
From within our lover’s eyes?