An old man passes
Through wrought-iron gate
The guards give a reverent nod
A retired knight
Armor laid down
To don a quiet façade

Gazing through the bars
And the two-sided mirror
To see what this city hides
Behind each lost soul
Is a story like his
Just look into their eyes

He sees a bare stage
And a man dethroned
No longer our Clown Prince
Whose blond harlequin
Left him for a man
Who whispers “riddle me this”

A black cat opens
Umbrellas indoors with
A scarecrow named Icabod Crane
From Lazarus Pits a
Demon’s Head kisses
The right side of Talia’s face

The blond girl plays
With creeping ivy
Fed by doctor’s frozen tears
Tossing a coin
To free a man who’s
Trapped inside his fears

A face of clay
A porcelain doll
That’s best left on the shelf
A venomous bane
And the Mad Hatter
Who drinks tea with himself

He lingers not long
In this dark place
Our Black Knight is aware
He doesn’t belong here
He’s not their friend
This freak who put them there

Deep in the caverns
Below the mansion
Much like the knight himself
The frightened boy
Within a noble man
Defies his ailing health

His orphaned son
Has left his side
To strike out on his own
And his father died
A second time
So many years ago

He’ll give in to madness
He’ll succumb to age
And the hour that will kill
His duty is done
And the soul of a bat
Flies with the old man still