My Hidey Hole

pretending to know how to act
glassy red eyes, jaw slack
speaking in bare banalities
consciousness a mere formality

cloak of understanding worn too tight
jovial idiot blundering through the night
instinctively smiling at nothing
bloodshot lizard sunning

places where I shouldn't be
a darker hole appeals to me
self-made props, built on other's faults
garner some very misleading results

alpha male in a puddle of filth
alchemy turns the sow's ear silk
friend forever,to one who pays
leave your broken sword where it lays

coins and friends and self are lost
pride remains, but at what cost?
tear-stained marking on a map
leads to a damning epitaph