The Duke

Once upon a time
Midnight weary
And dreadfully teary
There lived once a duke
A lord, politic and sacrificial
Open his heart came the lovers
When once opened
His heart carried with it
The mark of Cain
To all those who make contact
May they forever burn
So the duke began to love
And his mark was seen
And viewed by all
Those who love him in return were cursed
With lack of intellect
Or lack of discipline
Which is necessary to live
And to love a duke
Some were consumed
By their own flames
Other by a different torch
The duke coughed blood in his sleep
The duke breathed with air so deep
The duke limped when out of sight
The duke was human, although
Most saw him as inhuman, an interloper in their race
With more power than most wished
Anyman to see
But beyond that
Ducal pomp
And toils of royal office
Conducting commerce
And engaging in war
Far beyond that which any blade
Or any dollar might touch
The duke say and bleed
And watched his fingers turn to rivers
From blood bleeds new life
A change in existence in new fluidity
But once the old blood
Mixed with the new, the existence only partially changed
The duke realized he was always he
And there was no way
Or means by which
His soul could be free
The duke with his weakness
His vulnerability so hidden
By necessity of live
For his façade was of iron
And around him
Of mache
He tore through them
To try and see reality
But around him
Was only facades
And humans
Much like him
A room full of dreamers
Dancing behind masks
Wishing to see more than mask
But unwilling to shed their own
A masquerade of life
Neverending dance
For even in death, truth remains untold
As the duke saw the hypocrites
And as the duke viewed his subjects
His loves began to fade
And he began
To detach
It was then the duke’s office
Was worth more than himself
It was then the dollars he owned
Were of more value then the words he spoke
The duke faded forom life
To recede into his disease
To live which his vulnerability so hidden
To seek would take years
Then came the duchess
So gossamer yet hidden behind her eyes
One so vulnerable as the duke himself
And so they danced
The duke took away her mask
And after long
Her nails
Succeeded over
The dark and cold iron
Which shielded the duke
From such things
However the duke
Could never be with the duchess
As she was farther away from him
The happiness which had much receded
So long ago
And as the duke looked around
He realized that truth
Life is pain
However everything evens out in time
He came to look around
After being so broken by his duchess
And saw another mask of iron
Which he tore off in an instant
For he knew his own lock
Was similar to hers
And so the duke awaits
For the iron to fall to the floor