Word Thingys: Salome Strangelove
You say “write me something beautiful” and push a penny in my heart
It’s not a currency my soul can recognize
There are no menus for the muses, you just can’t order a la carte
And my creation isn’t yours to weaponize
You want it fast, you want it pretty, you want the payoff and the thrill
But you don’t want to know what haunts behind the scenes
The tender things inside we strangle, the hope that often kills
As we smile for your spotlights and entertain those with the means
Oh you need, you need, you need, you need, you need us
To distract you from your misery
You cry “come feed, come feed, come feed, come feed us
Bring us joy, give us ecstasy”
And no matter what we do
There’s never enough for you
Well you want to own the things we make, so you covet and you steal
With all your golden keys and iron gates
Try and keep us ever-starving, we dance en-pointe for every meal
For the crumbs of your derision and the whiskey of your hate
Oh we chart stars and universes — inner spaces that we weave
So much danger, so much darkness, so much light
Alone through every journey, hoping there’s enough to breathe
Just to try and sell the stories that amuse you for a night
Oh you need, you need, you need, you need, you need us
To distract you from your misery
You cry “come feed, come feed, come feed, come feed us
Bring us joy, give us ecstasy”
And no matter what we do
There’s never enough for you
I’ve heard it said with every gift there comes a whip
And we all bear the scars that prove it
We brew in barrels, but distill in sips
We gotta keep it potent to help the pushers move it
Oh you need, you need, you need, you need, you need us
To distract you from your misery
You cry “come feed, come feed, come feed, come feed us
Bring us joy, give us ecstasy”
And no matter what we do
There’s never enough for you
It’s criminal; it’s delusional
Still, you say “write me something beautiful”