the

puppetmaster’s

palace

by francis

booth

1. the anteroom

in the beginning

was the word

and the words

formed

a life sentence

a palindromic life

a reversible

sentence

the end

in the beginning

the end

is the beginning

only those with no

beginning

will have no end

an antiphon

in the anteroom

hallway

to a hidden hell

pathway

to a perpetual

purgatory

2. the master

bedroom

on a silken

coverlet

under

a sumptuous

canopy

panoply

of power

the puppeteer

preens

and prances

directs

the dances

lord and master

droit de seigneur

of all he surveys

pacing

and planning

designing

destinies

foreshadowing

fates

from

the balustraded

balcony

the puppeteer’s

principality

stretches

to the hazy

horizon

the unkind

mastermind

weds beds shreds

bids and forbids

his shamefaced

slaves

treads

on the threads

of his jacks

and knaves

supplicants

in submission

applicants

for permission

replicants without

remission

always denied

set on one side

impregnating

dominating

subjugating

duplicating

and replicating

a subdued race

compliant

and complacent

reliant

on debasement

subjects

subjected

to the master’s

magisterial

manipulation

3. the empty

ballroom

the unseen

orchestra

silently bows and

scrapes

to the tune

of time

on a forgotten

phonograph

a wistful waltz

wafts

like

an abandoned

dream

blown

on the breeze

drifting dreamily

through drowsy

drapes

a music box

ballerina

pirouettes

en pointe

twirling

swirling

spinning

in spirals

dust motes

describing

arabesques

in the empty

air

chandeliers shine

softly

faint and faded

into cobwebbed

corners

of coves

and cornices

ghostly beauties

the spirits

of the space

gloved

and gowned

gallop

to a gaunt

gavotte

grinning

and spinning

a midnight minuet

a courtly

courante

carefully

choreographed

by black-gloved

hands

waiting

in the wings

with fraying strings

4. the puppet

theatre

the puppeteer

grins and sneers

disappears

centre stage

a golden cage

terrors rage

a music box

carriage clocks

ticks and tocks

marionettes

pirouette

in silhouette

pulled by strings

from the wings

run in rings

willows weep

wounds

go deep

memories keep

morning dew

mourning new

dawning true

shadows cast

through

the past

never last

fate unkind

fear entwined

hope unwinds

shadows fall

dreams recall

the final ball

5. the chapel

the spire inspires

as the choir retires

golden gleams

of olden dreams

a font of fools

the cross of the

cursed

a nave of knaves

an asses’ apse

built

brick by brick

on the alms

of the sick

from widows’

mites

to vaulting heights

the edifice

endures

on the pennies of

the poor

pontificating

prelates

prate

and prattle

like empty rattles

vicious vicars

vicarious

precarious

pretending

condescending

defending

the faith

of the fathers

feasting in the

vestry

like beasts

in the bestiary

choirboys

like shiny toys

to be

played with

and broken

the evil unspoken

peddling pardons

and permissions

granting

remissions

from sins

of commission

disobedient

omission

selling admission

to a paradise

perpetually

postponed

shepherding

flocks

hemmed in

by the rocks

of guilt

and suspicion

of old superstitions

and gold

apparitions

mumbling masses

for the huddled

masses

in an opium haze

in a dreamlike

daze

of golden days

and olden ways

miming hymns for

the last

of the lost

the golden goblet

a chalice

of malice

the wine watered

down

by the rivers

of hate

the communion

wafer-thin

slivers of hate

false hope

for the hopeless

vain vacant

visions

in a vast vacuum-

filled void

empty blessings

false confessing

intercessing

under painted

saints

with vermilion

smiles

and marble eyes

offering prayers

with unreturned

stares

into unrequited air

6. the sick room

banks of bodies

unburied

on ranks

of bunks

lying dying

moaning sighing

screaming crying

on bloodveined

marble slabs

nurses curse

in chaotic

corridors

spitting out spells

to ward off

sickness

spiteful words

on frightfilled

wards

bloodletting

bedwetting

bonesetting

bodies shattered

blood spattered

hair matted

entrails scattered

the rising heat

of mouldering

meat

from sweatsoaked

sheets

typhoid screams

of fevered dreams

the surgeon’s

scalpel

severs scalps

slickly slicing

sickly dicing

through

the willing flesh

of the young and

fresh

deflowering

showering

with blood

flowing

in flood

doctor death’s

fickle sickle

tricks the sick

the dead

and the quick

7. the lost library

palimpsensed

parchments

papyrus burning

with the virus

of learning

the forbidden

collection

spreading

infection

heretics

of hermeneutics

hermetically steal

the secrets

left concealed

too dark

to be revealed

the wisdom

of sages

the knowledge

of the ages

on drycrumbled

pages

in metalbarred

cages

vast vellum

volumes

of tomblike tomes

hide bound

covered in dust

eaten by rust

false hope found

like prometheus

unbound

the cabal

conspires

inside dreaming

spires

the writers

all liars

the books

are all lies

but the people

are wise

the wisdom

of crowds

like the freedom

of clouds

the words

on the page

are echoed

on stage

concealing

the rage

the weight

of the hate

and the fate

of the state

with barbarians

at the gate

as all learning is

spurned

and the books are

all burned

in a bonfire

of all vanities

of slickest inanities

and sickest

insanities

the fire consumes

what the future

exhumes

received

as true treasure

believed

with

true pleasure

8. the moat

the moat

encircles

the palace

like a snake

spiralled

around

a sleeping baby

foetally

centripetally

the tide

allows entry

but no escape

the drawbridge

drops

only at death

the crossing lost

the ferryman’s

cost

creatures

of the deep

sleep fitfully

subsurface

serpents

flesheating fishes

inhabit the

darkdeep

sightless schools

in the fathomless

pool

circling round

the bones of the

drowned

creeping vines

encircle

sleeping minds

cuckolding

holding

in a parasitic

paralytic

grip

brackish

blackish waters

the scenes

of slaughter

putrescent

fluorescent

excrescent

with the slime

of time

of ancient crimes

fevered screams

forgotten dreams

of release

of surcease

of final

peace

9. the catacombs

the river sticks

to its usual course

swollen by rain

sluicing down

drains

washing remains

to the subterrain

passing under the

walls

and the

brightpainted

halls

the ferryman’s

fee

collected

with glee

in recompense

for a life’s expense

of blood

and toil

regret

and fears

the summer’s last

shadows

overcast

in cavernous

canyons

lightshafted

in cadaverous

chasms

speared

by fearsharpened

stones

sheared

by serrated

stalagmites

pierced

in passingby

the gloom

illumined

by the doom

the dark lit

by a dying spark

grievestones

gravely engraved

with epitaphs

of epigraphs

shadows written

on stone

pierce through to

the bone

of the finally alone

10. the walled

garden

the smallest seed

of greed

in the soft soil

of the soul

will produce

the tallest tree

blocking

the light

barring

the way

flourishing

with fruit

and flowers

sheltering

with shade

darkening

with doubt

the sap

of wisdom

rises

through

the tree

of foreknowledge

the bounty

of a butterfly

landing

on the lush leaves

of love

and longing

but the fruit

is fatal

the petals

are poisoned

the roots

are sour

lethal leaves

bitter branches

blossoms

blooming

with blood

sharpened blades

of gleaming grass

nettles

and thorns

glittering

at dawn

in the eyes

of the unborn

the leaves

all wither

as the snakes

all slither

seeds of doubt

spore weeds

of despair

11. the forbidden

forest

outside the walls

beyond the halls

the forest

of freewill

flourishes

the distant sea

roars through the

trees

daylight

never reaches the

ground

silence

never breaches

the sound

jackdaws

crowcaw

tearclawed

vultures soar

moss covered

loss smothered

overgrown

undergrowth

cloaked

by reeds

choked

by weeds

branches wither

serpents slither

spiders sidle

and slide

scorpions hurry

and scurry

in a flurry

of worry

wild beasts roam

with nowhere

home

wolffree

jackalproud

hyena hearted

untameable

unnameable

unshameable

an unreflective life

unselective

unelective

unbounded and

unfounded

ungrounded

by hate

unhounded

by fate

in nature’s state

outside

the estate

beyond

the debate

despatches

detached

with no strings

attached

unrestrained

by the

puppetmaster’s

hands

unconstrained

by chest-

tightening bands

ex-

communicants

exiled

reviled

unreconciled

outside

the tale

beyond

the pale

12. the treasury

coins

are placed

on the eyes

of the dead

riches block

the light

and lock

the sight

the gold disc

of the sun

hides

the true light

it blocks the exit

from the world of

attachment

and greed

the glittering

necklaces

sparkling

with splendours

pregnant

with pomp

choke

like chains

a chain

of purest gold

is still a chain

the bejewelled

bangles

of dazzling

diamonds

resplendent with

rubies

emblazoned with

emeralds

studded

with sapphires

shining

and shimmering

grip like shackles

shackles

of precious stones

are still

a slave’s shackles

the softest shawl

of silken

shahtoosh

delicate

and downy

fine as

a fairy’s wing

of featherlight

filigree

strangles

like a noose

a noose

of the finest fabric

is still a noose

the vintage wine

in the

cobwebbed

cellar

rich and rare

fragrant and

fruitful

is a slow poison

poison drunk

from a

jewelled cup

is still poison

the bars of gold

you hold

grasping greedily

holding needily

imprisons you

without escape

prison bars

of precious metal

are still

prison bars

freedom

is not worth

its weight

in gold

bars

the price

of freedom

can not

be weighed

it is not

for the love

of wealth

that wealth

is dear

it is for the love of

self that greed is

near

that feeds

the fears

and milks

the tears

13. the lake of

sorrow

frozen tears

form a flood of

fears

dropping like

pearls

in the perfumed

pool

the rain of regret

too much pain to

forget

from centuries of

weeping

of wetpillowed

sleeping

languishing

lamenting

lachrymose

from saltweeping

eyes

with sadworn sighs

coracles capsized

on dejected

jetties

boats overturned

bridges burned

a dam

built of bodies

of the damned

holds back

torrents

of torment

rivers

of remorse

trickling streams

of undreamt

dreams

the tortured rise

of ancient cries

forgotten sighs

and untold lies

14. the chamber

of justice

in the

chancery

chamber

the jealous

judges’ justice

solemnly

bears down

in the name

of the crown

with the face

of a clown

the spirit

of greed

the soul

of need

sent down in

chains

into what

still remains

of the jail

of the failed

still unrisen

from the body’s

prison

a shackled hole

in a deepdark

soul

the bondage

of ignorance

and forgetfulness

the burden

of fate

the jury of peers

peering purblind

into a pit

of pitch black

vicarious verdicts

vicious edicts

a savage

sentence

harshly hissed

the

uncondemned

man

determined to

hang

unable to cope

with the freedom

of hope

can not be

let out

in a world

full of doubt

unpardoned

unparoled

unprepared

15. the dungeon

in the cave

of shadows

the light echoes

endlessly

through

the darkness

the light

is trapped

in the depths

of darkness

and despair

fortress formed of

fear

of failing

of falling

subterranean

sunless

sunken

submerged

stygian stone

stairways

vertiginous visions

of a vast

vacant

void

echoing emptily

with morphine-

mad moans

murmurs

of rumours

legends of lost

lives

choking sighs

haunted cries

hidden eyes

unbidden lies

in the beginning

was the end

in the end

is a new

beginning

only those with

no beginning

will have

no end