Watch the inmates
Doomed to stay in this here
Prison house; counting bars
Watching the shadows lengthen
Across the desolate yard
See the wistful glances
They dart at the sky
And skylark, both;
Freedom and joy both denied them
Watch, as their hunger grows
The world is hard on them
As on all fallen stars
Fate is harder, more pitiless
The punishment most serious
For losing what most
Could never hope to get
Most heartbreaking to see
Is the way they turn inwards
Tearing at each other
Killing for the sake of the Pain
Buried deep in their hearts
For mistakes old and young
Faults real and faults imagined
The last embers of humanity
Consumed in misplaced bestial rage
Watch them fight
Rolling across the yard
In furious embraces locked
Fashioning sport for the watching world
Gladiator-like and self consuming anger
Unheeding jeers and catcalls
Something beyond humiliation and defeat
Come and watch the fallen stars
Anguish paralyses my heart
And yet not my hand
As I strike thee;
O brother of my heard
And trample underfoot, you
Who art my sister
‘Tis a sorry sight
For those as great
As these who Have Been
To descend to the levels
Beneath the watching world
For these bars we’ve put up
Across our minds
Binding ourselves, restraining
Self chastisement for daring to be
A star high above the watching world
Diving into this pain of penance
Atonement for the sake of normalcy
For being born a cut above the rest
Condemned to fail by the whispered curses
Of an envious crown watching with bated breath
Praying even; for the inevitable fall
Pity these shooting stars
Destined to go down fighting
Martyrs to the cause of failure
Pity them, O watching world
Here today, gone tomorrow
A flash in the pan; across the horizon bright
The unforgettable forgotten
Lighting up memories; give
Us a permanent spot
From Hall of Fame to Wall of Shame
And back again
Hate not these fallen hapless stars; jeer
All you like, but beware
Keep awake and watch for the night
When the watchers come back
To watch this watching world
And the stars come shining out again