the Countess

In the Castle she counts her stones
All the shining gold and silver ;
Jewels like no one's ever known
All hers to admire !

But never glad, never content,
She searched with all her heart's intent
North, West and East of Aklandia
The ever brightest gemstone
That any mind could fathom
To adorn her best tiara...

     Oh dear Countess
     You wish to possess
     What's as cold as your heart !
     From top of your tower
     What you so desire
     Could tear it all
     Could tear it all apart !

On the ever-frozen highest
Of mountains where all secrets rest
Came to the Countess a wise man
Who knew ancient arts, words of fire,
To supply and best Earth's power.
“Thus, he said, can your jewel be found :

From two thousand of your people's tears
You will brew a fine elixir,
And by mixing it with sand
You'll burn eighty miles of your land.
Deep in the ash there will be
More precious stone than diamond or ruby,
And thus might your turmoil end.”

     Oh dear Countess
     You wish to possess
     What's as cold as your heart !
     From top of your tower
     What you so desire
     Could tear you all
     Could tear you all apart !

High was the price to pay
But in her thoughts all night and day
Was only that pure jewel
So pure it would atone her sins,
For nothing else could existence mean,
And who said otherwise she called fool.

Soldiers were sent North, West and East of Aklandia,
With orders to be on their cruelest demeanor,
At once harvest the salty ore
While workers reached for all the seas
And drained all sand from all beaches,
For such did please the land's diva.

     Oh dear Countess
     You wish to possess
     What's as cold as your heart !
     From top of your tower
     What you so desire
     Could tear them all
     Could tear them all apart !

But please the people it did not
To be treated as less than naught
And so did they take up arms.
Their burning fields they would not see,
Lest they be stopped by death or greater fury
They'd bring about hell, wars and great harm.

And in seeding vast destruction
They showed a great efficiency,
Noble heads fled from their ruler's fancy.
The soldiers likewise retreated
And there was no one left to plead
But the Gods to regain hold of the Nation.

     Oh dear Countess
     You wish to possess
     What's as cold as your heart !
     From top of your tower
     What you so desire
     Shall tear your world
     Shall tear your world apart !

No soul could now admire the Countess's jewelry
For she lived miserable, in dire poverty,
And to this day, never touched
Again what wouldn't have left a hole
Had she been touched by words of her people
Who taught her what treasure she'd searched :

For it wasn't stone, pearl or sapphire,
But rather a world where one's desire
Did not bring all else's to oblivion
And let everyone be heard ;
Where a bored woman's selfish obsession
Never does beseech that her land be burnt.