I dream of demons, elephants, and rats.
I chase them off with curses and complaints.
Then comes a butler with a bottle. “That’s
Your one way out,” he says, “of all your pains:
More wine! And all that frenzy quickly wanes,
The visions vanish, and your heart and veins
Release you, and the armor finally melts.”
I’m me again, and here’s the trade I’d make,
For immortality - these three keepsakes:
A friend, a horse, a highway on the plains.
I bow my head, as humbly as it gets;
Not for the sake of me, but for God’s sake:
Have mercy and do not cry in my wake.

* * *
I honor Faust, also - Dorian Gray.
But sell my soul to Satan? What? No way!
Why did the Gypsies read my fortune? They
Have specified for me my dying day.
But I implore you: do not save that date!
Don’t mark it in the calendar, my friend!
So for the circling ravens I won’t wait
The bleating lambs I will not tolerate,
And all those cackling people in the shade.
Protect me from them all, my Lord, defend
Me from the seeds of doubt and fear they plant
Into my soul - before it is too late!