I watched the shadows dancing with the smoke pillars in the night,
     serpentine fingers caressing chaos in the most careless cascades.
Even where the veil of night shrouded web from sight,
     there was no denial that all is wrong, never to be right.

I brushed the wall of essence, caught a glimpse of my mortality.
     Somewhere in tearful dreams walks a better part of myself.
Yet among the chill of dusk I tasted bitter traces of fatality.
     No words will right the wrongs in my own mind's parody.

Bonds broken through no choice of my own, severed ties.
     Doors shut and time ticks no more for the innocent.
The masked events they broke to us, failed to soften with lies.
     Through matching polarities, socially magnetic forces deny.

I heard of the shadows dancing with the smoke pillars in the night,
     yet overeagerness for acceptance and approval made a fool.
Even where the veil of night shrouded tragedy from sight,
     waves rippled eternally from the stone's throw buried deep inside.

Here lies expectation and I am the tombstone, forever a sentinel.
     Doubtless the tides of regret have swelled to tidal waves.
Diverted gazes are the fertilizer for the endless fields of a fool.
     Each road that beckons leads to a bitter end, a reinforced wall.

No rest for the weary, press onward and onward beyond daybreak.
     Cascading attempts at success echo from dead-end opportunity.
I am the shattered window, the amputated leg, the disfiguring trait.
     Awakening chances blink glazed eyes, only to dream they're awake.

I watched the shadows dancing with the smoke pillars in the night,
     accepted with finality the truth of everything that will ever be.
Even where the veil of night shrouds the regrets, hides them from sight,
     there burns brightest the truest of truth, harshest of harsh rights.

Silvered pools on the wall reflect a face lacking pride.
Cascading rivulets cleanse traces of any interior truth.
Populating phantom ballrooms, an eternal masquerade.
My only true eye shuts as I put on the carnival mask.

Horizons break at my feet.
Towering over all that is above and below me,
     I stand against the torment of the raging winds.
Standing on the sideline of this checkered battlefield,
     Bishop takes pawn.
     Rook takes pawn.
     Queen takes pawn.
     King takes pawn.
     
Faceless pieces arranged only to benefit the controller.
     Raging storms of competition fuel the sacrifice.
Discard the broken and deformed,
     deny any that were disfigured in the molding.
Where perfection governs, give no quarters to the desperately flawed.
     Refuse bins full to capacity shift for the next generation.
Can I take your order?
How can I help you?
Can I take your order?
How can I help you?

Trails of bread crumbs have sprouted the serpents of corporation.
A lost glass slipper shattered in transit.
Sorry, without insurance we can't compensate your purchase.

I watched the shadows dancing with the smoke pillars in the night.
I shrugged off the world, rolled over and turned out the light.