The Wrecker

Once upon a dismal evening, while I started, glum and grieving,

Into many a sweet and savory bottle of my Pinot Noir,

As I drank, my body slumping- suddenly there came a thumping,

As if somebody was bumping into my apartment door-

"Sounds like somebody," I murmured, "has just knocked upon my door,"-

Only this and nothing more.

…

Let me see- if I recall… yes… it was in the midst of fall, yes,

It could not have been a week since I had moved to this top floor.

For 'twas here in this apartment that I sought to give bombardment,

Through the drinks in my compartment, to my sorrow for the score-

To my sorrow for the family that I used to have before-

And shall see again no more.

…

And that gloomy night in autumn, my heart sank down to its bottom

As again my mind turned to the faces I used to adore,

And the flaws that from them took me- they began to overlook me

When the need for drink o'ertook me such that I could not ignore-

Flung me from the wife and children that were once my own before-

Banished from me evermore.

…

'Twas a truly tragic parting, but it also marked the starting

Of what was to be a newer, better me than e'er before-

From my keen sense of perception that belies this gaunt complexion,

'Twas my blatant imperfection that made up my sorrow's core-

As a husband and a father I'd indeed been rather poor,

But imperfect nevermore.

…

Just when all hope seemed defeated, then construction was completed

On this building, and at last I could pursue my plans once more-

With my imperfections shafted, I, with eye for detail, drafted

Up a penthouse home well crafted, void of any flaw in store-

One bereft of imperfection; flawless, spotless to its core-

Mine to call home evermore.

…

Yet for all its charm and style, not even this domicile

Of perfection could shake loose my sorrow for those faces four,

So at times I turn to liquor with no hint of gripe or bicker,

And on nights like these my ticker beats for those I knew before-

Even here I can't escape the thought of those I knew before-

Nor shall I forevermore.

…

Presently this thumping stirred me, want of company did spur me

To invite this guest inside to my luxurious penthouse floor-

After years of melancholy, company always made me jolly-

"Come on in!" I called in folly, as I opened up my door

And was greeted with the marvel of an empty corridor-

Darkness, walls, and nothing more.

…

Deep into that hallway, gazing, long I stood, thinking, Amazing-

I was sure that knocking sound was someone coming to my door…

"Hello? Anyone?" I muttered- and no sooner had I uttered

This request than my walls shuddered with the same force as before,

And I knew as I stared out into that empty corridor-

'Twas that thumping sound once more.

…

With the slightest trepidation and a hint of hesitation

I took one last gaze into the hall before I shut the door,

"I can no longer debate it, now I'm so intoxicated

That I'm hearing things!" I stated, when a thumping shook the floor-

That same sound again returned with greater force then e'er before-

'Twas deniable no more.

…

Here I flung the window open, peering down below me, hoping

For a glimpse of what was making all these noises, nothing more-

Finding nothing, I inspected the apartment I'd perfected,

When a rumbling sound directed my attention to the door,

And before my eyes a giant fist came smashing through the door-

One to stay forevermore.

…

As the horrid hand retracted from the gap it had enacted

Did I find in me the courage that I needed to explore,

When there came a sudden rumble- yes, a fearsome sounding grumble,

And o'er bottles did I stumble and fall down upon the floor-

Surely this was but a vision of the conscience that I bore,

This it was, and nothing more!

…

With the utmost vim and vigor, from the rubble rose a figure-

In there stepped a man the likes of whom I'd never seen before,

Nine feet tall and just as weighty, hands the size of an old lady-

Not a moment stopped or stayed he after entering my floor,

For the moment that this giant set his sights upon my floor,

Its perfection was no more.

…

I stood terrified, immobile, wholly powerless to ogle

As through everything I owned this giant of a human tore-

First my window smashed to pieces, then my portrait ('twas my niece's),

Then the sheets I kept in creases, then through drawer after drawer,

But when I beheld the fiend go tearing through my Pinot Noir,

I knew I could take no more!

…

"Giant!" said I, wildly stewing, "Man or fiend, what are you doing?!

Take a look at what you've done to my once-perfect penthouse floor!

All I wanted was redemption, which I sought out through erection

Of this penthouse of perfection, which by your hand is no more!

You shall take your heavy-handed form from here at once, you boor!"

His reply was, "Nevermore."

…

This response of his did stun me- he not only had outdone me,

This man led me to debate the meaning of this, "Nevermore":

As its meaning I did ponder, then my mind began to wander-

Could this man from over yonder be a soothsayer of yore,

And this wrecking of my penthouse but a message to mull o'er,

That he meant in "Nevermore?"

…

"Wrecker!" said I, intervening, "Please explain to me the meaning

Of this havoc you have wreaked upon my perfect penthouse floor,

For to keep it fit and flawless is, you see, my only solace,

But this space has been made lawless with your presence!" I did roar.

"Is there meaning in this wreckage? Tell me! Tell me, I implore!"

Quoth the wrecker, "Nevermore."

…

Here my eyes began to glisten- "Then what good can come of this then?

You've destroyed the very thing that constitutes my being's core!

Giant, demonstrate your merit- Tell me, how will you repair it?

If it's wrecked, I cannot bear it to live in this penthouse floor!

Surely, surely it is possible to fix this mess once more!"

Quoth the wrecker, "Nevermore."

…

"Wrecker!" said I, "Foul being! You have wrecked my hopes of freeing

Myself from the fiends that plague me, just as you have wrecked my floor!

If you've one mere shred of pity, speak then of my missus pretty,

And my children itty-bitty, that I fathered once before-

Tell this sorrow-riddled soul that he may yet see them once more?"

Quoth the wrecker, "Nevermore."

…

"Enough of that appellation!" I exclaimed in desperation,

"Tell me anything but that foul word, that word that I abhor!

As it was my hopes were weary- now my world entire seems dreary,

And my poor old eyes gone teary, for my soul can bear no more!

Take your fist out of my heart, and take your form out of my floor!"

Quoth the wrecker, "Nevermore."

…

And that giant, by my checking, still is wrecking, still is wrecking

Through the remnants of my pride and joy- my perfect penthouse floor,

And his fists, with all the power of a raging cyclone dour

Have made this apartment tower inhabitable no more-

And I knew that both my heart and my once-perfect penthouse floor

Could be mended- nevermore!