Poem

The Wanderer, Having Escaped Hell, Meets the Balladeer on the Moon

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Welcome I am the snake The Balladeer

A viper when the skull is worn away

The human skull by loneliness……..by fear

And a strange distancing from home as say

What you will……..friend but this is a strange bay

That meets no port when……..your skull’s worn

Lonely to nothing here and here you stay

The viper you have always been is born

 

But I have difficulty being clear

And leave my thoughts unfinished……..every day

I’ve prayed for you to come……..you couldn’t hear

But who of us which liar will claim to pray

Only to whom can hear……..or anyway

For my replacement……..you to come……..forlorn

-ly prayed now……..though you then were formless clay

The viper you have always been is born

 

Oh……..watch my sockets if……..I shed a tear

Step back a yard or two……..my tears have a

Corrosive quality you stand too near

My joy will melt your skin……..my sorrow play

-ing down my cheeks removed my cheeks……..they lay

Dust-colored in the dust like clumped hair shorn

Off……..or the Moon’s welled teardrops……..it’s okay

The viper you have always been is born

 

My pain is no more yours……..than any ray

That burns the Moon’s……..face is the Moon’s no……..mourn

The company you now can’t keep……..today

The viper you have always been is born