symphonic burdens

don’t pity the poor fool who walks with shackles.
don’t smile at the clown who holds candles in his hands
crying as the wax burns flesh.
don’t laugh with the drunk who cries into a glass of gin.
refuse your love to the loveless
take what you have been given and swallow it whole
pray you feel the red wine drip from the sides of your mouth
coat your lips with sticky sticky red,
taste it for years to come.
drink up as you are told
keep your body steady as you fall,
fall,
fall.
Sing yourself a symphony
With a choir of hatred and desire
selfishness and need
Hold your head high while you
drink your bottled love and cry with no voice.