adamdaniel

The End of a Dream

The revellers have left the hall,
The music faded long,
The ball we threw,
A brave debut,
A mirthful crew,
So well-to-do,
An energetic throng.

The images of merriment,
A cinema within,
The cheerful quip,
The cocktail sip,
The dancer’s skip,
My husband’s grip,
A charismatic din!

The revelations of the band,
Participants so keen,
In dapper coats,
Such clever quotes,
Their talent floats,
In bouncing notes,
With hair in slick black sheen.

The crockery and kitchenware,
Is stacked in endless heaps,
The glasses dry,
And piled high,
The place a sty,
The servants wry,
The youngest maid she weeps!

The revelry has dwindled down,
And I am spent and worn,
My ballroom dress,
A sorry mess,
I must confess,
My mad excess,
And here I slump forlorn.

The mirror stands in mournful shade,
Declining to bring light,
The bustling maid,
In dark brocade,
Almost afraid,
Somehow betrayed,
By this debauch tonight.

Only ghosts sit in the chairs,
And loneliness begins,
The mournful gaze,
Of joyless days,
The gloom that stays,
An endless maze,
Accursedness that wins.

And though I have the finery,
Belonging to my class,
A fine estate,
A title great,
I rue this state,
I can’t placate,
My inner soul is brass.

And everything I strive to love,
Is blackened through by time,
My friends and kin,
Like cast off skin,
My life of sin,
Brings pain within,
E’en breathing is a crime!

The alcohol depletes me low,
The opiates are strong,
The tinctured gin,
Drips down my chin,
My senses spin,
And devils grin,
And Sheol sings my song!

Tis here I’ll meditate anon,
Until the fire’s dead,
The embers throw,
Their dying glow,
And white as snow,
I’ll sink below,
To lurid dreaming fled.