Fugue

Tell me a story,

sing me a song.

Take from me this simple melody

and confess your every right and wrong.

***

I'll give you a show-

the best that I know.

Every stitched-up scar on this tattered heart

will play for you their wailing part.

***

You want my truth, you despise my lies...

but can you even recognize

the difference between the flawed disguise

and all the wisdom in its hollow eyes?

I give you these words,

some you may wish you never heard.

But quiet are the pretty, packaged lines,

compared to the clamor of a damaged mind.

***

A soul without a proper cause,

bound by all its fickle flaws.

Pursuing purpose without pause,

prancing for your silent applause.

But without a life of silent strife

what meaning is there in sacrifice?

It would be rather imprecise

to speak of pain in paradise.

***

Yes, my friend, you understand

why our duet must never end.

That which you cannot comprehend

I illustrate with the pen you command.

You have always been my avatar-

the recipient of my repertoire.

Without me, you'd be an empty jar;

bereft of all you think you are.

***

So, poetry is what it means to be

completely without the ability

to have a life and live it too.

Lost in a constant state of fugue.

This caustic gift you freely share

I devour even more desperately than air.

Nothing scares me like the thought

that all I've suffered was for naught.

***

Every story must begin and end

but whatever happens until then

is up to you to ultimately decide.

Don't use me as your excuse to hide.

If eternity in ink is what you seek

then you should try a new technique.

Veracity today is not that glamorous-

people prefer their realites fictitious.

***

For this curse that must be mine to bear

all I ask is that someone, somewhere,

take succor in the words I share.

Allow me the burden of our nightmare.

I write not for timeless preservation,

if anything my work is about redemption.

It's you, I think, that craves the attention...

I'm just trying to find some direction.

Author's Note

A fugue, in simple musical terms, is when a piece has two (or more) melodies that "compete" with one another, so to speak. I don't often try to explain elements of my poetry, because I think it often takes away from the experience of the reader, but I'm not sure how common the term is if you haven't had a music class, and it's pretty important to be familiar with for this.

The poem itself... I dunno what to really say about it's inception this time. I had a couple phrases laying around, a couple came to me today, and they seemed to weave themselves together after a while. Sometimes the words need to be written more so than I want to write them.

I doubt that makes sense to anyone but me.