Important note: this poem is intended to be read as a conversation between two characters. Regular text is one character and bold is the other.
I would love to see the interpretations of what you think this poem is about. So...PLEASE REVIEW.
He sits down with holy fears
And waters the ground with tears
Humanity takes its root
Underneath his foot
Insignificant in their worthless pursuits
All amounting to nothing
The world claims a dismal shade
Until reckless loves increase
Then cruelty knits a snare
And spreads his baits with care
Come armed with your stakes and torches
To do battle with the shade
But soon learn of your worthless stake
An army composed of nobody
If I am nobody
Then who are you?
I wear the mask of sins and lies
That hides my fangs and shades my eyes
O rose, thou art sick
An invisible worm
That flies in the night
Battered by the howling storm
Mutual fear brings peace
And mercy could no more be
If all were as ambitious as thee
You have been fooled by the fruit of deceit
Ruddy and sweet to eat
But beware the kind and caring façade
For beneath rests a hollow man
The supplication of a fallen man's hand
Under the glow of a fading star
In this desolate, barren land
Means nothing and everything to the abandoned
Poor multifoliate rose
Or death's twilight kingdom
You deign to follow
A hollow man
You, an angel, intrude in this desolate land
We are armed, you come in vain
For now true threat has fled
You do battle for no gain
Not and angel, no not I
We both don masks of sins and lies
To hide our fangs and shade our eyes
With direct eyes to death's other kingdom
See me not as a lost, violent soul
But as a hollow man
Let me be no nearer
In death's dream kingdom
But fear my dangerous façade
As death's shadow draws nearer
Beware the hollow man within
Son of man
You know only
A heap of broken images
Where the dead tree offers no shelter
And the dry stone no water
Regret all you have taken from me
For mercy has a human heart
Pity a human face
My loss is not your gain
In your pride and scorn
You fill tempests with all I mourn
And with jealousies and fears
You fill my pleasant nights with tears
Poor, pale, pitiable form
That I follow in a storm;
Iron tears and groans of lead
Bind around my aching head.
And to the end
Thy cruel mocks,
Annihilate me upon the rocks
Never! No, Never!
I return
For victory I cease to burn.
But leaving thee alone I'll have;
And with regret I watch you fall.
Throughout all Eternity
I forgive you, as you forgive me.
O sick rose
You've found your bed
Of crimson joy;
And your dark secret love
Does thy life destroy.