We stare into the face of our own reflections
Reflecting the smiles we fake
Deflecting the eyes we meet
Hollow men *1 with hollow eyes
Our countenances carved to hide
our inconsistencies
But the constancy of our tumultuous existence is never far behind
In the wake of our illusions
we fill each other's heads with un-quieted delusions
We choose a barren yet harmonious calm rather than a fertile
Yet cacophonous tempest *2
We make believe
and carry on to watch as others feed
On the weakened minds of those who’ve never found a home
to calm their anxious thoughts or sooth their aching bones.
We'd rather play it safe and hope they never find us to be liars
If I don't know, then they don't know
we hide the scars we'd always wished to show.
How long will we fade behind the fabricated images of who we wish to be
We are the players and the patrons of our own distorted schemes! *3
We play the part our bodies take their shape
Our minds grow weary counting the faces we've faked.
Surrounded by bodies and the sound of shuffling feet
We scurry on, known only by the promises we failed to keep
Far too afraid to awaken the slumbering dead
That lie dormant deep inside our heads
Softly they whisper in an unknown tongue
Reminding us of how the siren sung
We thought that fear and love were always black and white
And we listened without mind to wrong or right
But now the truths revealed, no solace or impunity
Just a sea of voices and a self impaired community
We are conditioned for concealment
We embrace these masks with such vehemence
Draw out the lines that define us
Break down the walls that confine you and I
Draw out the lines that define us
Draw out the lines
How long will we fade behind the fabricated images of who we wish to be?
We are the players and the patrons of our own distorted schemes!
*1 T.S. Eliot; The Hollow Men
*2 From The Infernal Desire Machines of Dr. Hoffman.
*3 An adaptation from Shakespeares “All of us are merely players”
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