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As for the poem itself, Robyn and I wrote it together way back in 1979: It was our first collaborative poem. We think it was supposed to be part of something larger but can’t remember what. In the end, I suppose this is just more “free-association bullsh#t that rhymes and scans. That, and I’m way to enamored of Lewis Carroll’s poetry.
ONCE UPON A NIGHTMARE
It was once upon a Nightmare
In the Land of Broken Dreams.
With a King who rules All Emptiness
Where’s nothing’s as it seems.
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The King dwelt in his palace
Of Fantasy and Light.
He chained the Sun so it would stay
And hide him from The Night.
-
For he feared the Truth of Darkness
In a world he sought to bind
Lest some Dragon of the Real World
Blast the Gardens of his Mind.
-
A Gift they brought unto him.
A Maiden Wise and Fair
A gift of love--or so they said
For the Kingdom dying there.
-
He loved the maid and Wed her
And gave his pow’r away.
Then she Betrayed her Husband-King
And held him in her sway.
-
She broke his Will. She broke his Mind
And killed The Land with Magic.
The King fought back but could not win
Which made his Fall more tragic.
-
She drove him to the Brink of Doom
And set the Sun to fleeing.
The Truth laid bare, she showed him there
In the Darkness for his seeing.
-
She buried all his wondrous dreams
So he could not see or feel them.
And laid a Curse on the tiny box
So he dared not try to Steal them.
-
When she was done the King was gone.
(He would not Live his Fate.)
And she did not see his Final Jest
Until it was too late.
-
For with his dreams the King had fled.
Into the Box she Sealed
And left him with a Wounded Soul
That never would be healed.
-
So now there’s just the Nightmare
In the Land of Broken Dreams
And a Queen who rules the Emptiness
But her grief is what it seems.
In the Land of Broken Dreams.
With a King who rules All Emptiness
Where’s nothing’s as it seems.
-
The King dwelt in his palace
Of Fantasy and Light.
He chained the Sun so it would stay
And hide him from The Night.
-
For he feared the Truth of Darkness
In a world he sought to bind
Lest some Dragon of the Real World
Blast the Gardens of his Mind.
-
A Gift they brought unto him.
A Maiden Wise and Fair
A gift of love--or so they said
For the Kingdom dying there.
-
He loved the maid and Wed her
And gave his pow’r away.
Then she Betrayed her Husband-King
And held him in her sway.
-
She broke his Will. She broke his Mind
And killed The Land with Magic.
The King fought back but could not win
Which made his Fall more tragic.
-
She drove him to the Brink of Doom
And set the Sun to fleeing.
The Truth laid bare, she showed him there
In the Darkness for his seeing.
-
She buried all his wondrous dreams
So he could not see or feel them.
And laid a Curse on the tiny box
So he dared not try to Steal them.
-
When she was done the King was gone.
(He would not Live his Fate.)
And she did not see his Final Jest
Until it was too late.
-
For with his dreams the King had fled.
Into the Box she Sealed
And left him with a Wounded Soul
That never would be healed.
-
So now there’s just the Nightmare
In the Land of Broken Dreams
And a Queen who rules the Emptiness
But her grief is what it seems.
