I Have You

To Roland

But I will persist.

I will carry your gods on my shoulders
and pretend that they are mine.

Your song, I have already taken;
I might even change the tune.

You might have done the same,
But I am not there to know,
there to hurt.

I've furnished new names for things;
now I call them what I wish.

I'll rewrite the story as I go
and make myself the victim.

I have been there before,
I have already done it.

Now your picture goes in the black frame;
I shall call you a martyr.
(I might even retouch the scar.)

Your shirt I shall box
with a sack of dried smiles,

they shall keep it fragrant
when it starts to rot.

And those letter... What can I
begin to do with them?
(I am all out of guilding.)

Maybe I'll post them
as warning signs
along the streets.

Someone is bound
to take the wrong turn,
some time.

But what will I do
with the grandchildren
I'll never tell the story?

What will I do
with the ending and
the mise-en-scene?

Well, I guess I don't have to worry
now, I have you for that.