I WAS YOUNG AND I WAS A LOVER
OF ALL THINGS OBSCURE AND UNFIT FOR THE WORLD
MY EYES LONGING AT ONCE TO CAPTURE
WHAT MAKES A MAN AND WHO TAKES THE PEARL
ONLY THREE-YEARS OF AGE YET I RECALL NATURE
IT BECKONED OUR EVERY MOVE THROUGHOUT THE LAND
HIS EYES FOCUSED ON HIS HANDS AND HIS HORSE
MINE FIXED ON THE ARM OF THIS MAN
WE FOUND A PLACE TO STOP AND THE HORSES THEY’D DRINK
THE POND FULL OF MUD, A CURIOUS SORT OF INK
I BEGGED HIS FORGIVENESS BUT ASKED ONCE AGAIN
FOR A GLIMPSE OF THE BEAST AND OF THE STORY WITHIN
PULL UP HIS SLEEVE TO SATISFY MY EYES
A GROWL AND UP MY EARS WOULD PERK LIKE A DOG I’S MYSTIFIED
FIRST A SHOCK, THEN A STARE, THEN A LAUGHTER SO LOUD
A MOMENT WITH NOTHING TO FEAR, A DISPOSITION SO AWFULLY PROUD
I REMEMBER THIS MAN FONDLY
DEATH CANNOT TAKE AWAY MUCH FROM ME
AND THE PANTHER TATTOOED ON HIS ARM
I TOOK FROM HIS SKIN AND PLACED IT ON ME
THE BEAST TODAY IS A JOYFUL SYMBOL
YET VISIONS OF THE PAST ARE NOT GRANTED TO ME
INSTEAD HE LEFT ME VISIONS OF THE FUTURE
A PATH TO SATISFY ANOTHER’S CURIOSITIES
NEVER IN MY OLD LIFE DID I IMAGINE
SUCH SIMPLE BEAUTY WAS UP MY SLEEVE
IT TOOK A YOUNG MAN JUST 3 YEARS OF AGE
MY PANTHER IS HIS WHENEVER I LEAVE
| RHETT BURCH
