The hot sun does cast
a tarnished light
over a pale,
washed-out forest,
full of obnoxious sound.

And the distant stars
do grow dim,
filling a sky
that is only black,
found often to be
an intoxicating elixir
for the simple-romantic,
who believes
in such wild-fantasy.

And any whim
was exactly that,
only a whim
& never true.

And who knew silence,
O that lovely lonely sound,
was so sweet,
so comforting,
calling me,
calling me
with a devil's refrain,
"Love thyself sinner
& no one else,
love thyself sinner
& no one else,
to avoid
the eternal heartbreak,
to avoid
the eternal heartbreak!"