The following day I did some walking
For my mind did too much talking
To itself, and so I walked along
And thought of our last episode
And that somehow it had eroded
Feelings from my closely guarded core
And also then I knew, I knew corruption
Leaked into this last eruption
And its oily odor stayed around
Long ago I knew that I was
Sly, perhaps, and not too nice, but
Underneath, I thought my goals sublime
But now, how could I tolerate
Behavior that could suffocate
Contentment in my friends and maybe more?
Desire conflicted in my mind with
Thoughts I once had found divine and
Torment twisted me between the two
Aimlessly I slowly wandered
As my footsteps took me onward
To a part of town I did not know

Soon I saw I was distracted
By a window that was acting
As a display for a barber's store
And what was underneath my stare was
Silver, sharp and could not care
About confusion or about despair
It only had one job to do, and
When it cut, it cut so true that
Now I knew exactly what to do
So I went inside and bought it
From a man who never caught the
Tingle that it raised along my spine
Electrically, a pleasant tension
Like a liquid in suspension
Flowed into the conflict in my head
And now my feeling was well being
But I could not help from seeing
That my hands were shaking as I paid
And as I left, my thoughts returned to
What I told them they had learned through
Our ordeal of torture and delight
Yes, it was a lie I told them
Not to help but just to hold them
With me, but I really should have said
"Lies can often give you power
Like a coffin filled with flowers
Gives life to the living, not the dead."