Yell

Please yell at me if I’ve done something wrong;
I want to be corrected, and with rancour
If you need to plumb the real depths, danker,
Less hospitable to dance and song.
The Devil prods you with the pitchfork prong
Just like the one used by his former banker,
Calling in the loans. You have no anchor,
Ethics, soundness. Did we wait too long?

If you believe that I’ve wasted my days
Pretending that the dark years of my youth
Were well spent, while I aged, weird and uncouth,
Raw and disdainful, in a moral haze,
If you believe I ought to change my ways,
Then raise your voice and make me see the truth.

What I Saw

The water was not deep, but it was tepid.
Since I’m shallow, my wit dry and cool,
I found it easy to remain intrepid
In the face of no risk. You’re a fool,
But I am wise, a Solomonic figure,
Intellect as deep as it is vast.
I’ve faced my fate with stoic grace, and vigour —
No fear — and I also faced the past.
Your whole life turned out graceless and unfeeling
(Mine has been both wonderful and kind),
So you relied on murder, threats, and stealing
While our daughter slept. Justice is blind,
But I’m not. What I saw destroyed all trust,
So now I’m neither free of shame nor just.

The Price of Forgiveness

You never asked what I was going to do
When you abandoned me, and I won’t tell,
Because you have no right to know that. Hell,
I tried to warn you trains were rolling through
Without a pause here, and the station crew
Won’t keep your luggage off the tracks. Don’t yell;
They’ll smile sweetly, and say you’re doing well,
Because the world is full of liars. Yes, that’s true.

I count the days since you returned to me,
Insisting on forgiveness. “Take me back,”
You threatened. I cut you a little slack,
But won’t forgive you quite so easily
As you were thinking. Good will isn’t free,
And I want money now, a giant stack.

One Step

He took one step towards the picket fence
And then retreated. She beckoned, then jeered,
Smiled like a happy child, then disappeared.
“Does any of this playacting make sense?”
He asked me, “Or am I a little dense?”
He took one step away. His stallion reared,
They pranced about — it was a little weird —
The feeling of dark coming was intense.

She waited on a mountaintop, coolly.
He took one step up, then turned, looking bored;
“I’ve paid enough, that’s all I can afford,”
He told me. “Why reward inconstancy?”
She raised her arms to signal victory.
He took one step, then fell upon his sword.