A Modest Return

The dupe prefers a midnight shade to snare a single hide,
Drafts the freely given dark for ends you long denied.
Doesn’t need your genuflection, yet demands your sole attention,
Waited long to seize your mind, your behaviour modified.
Stumble if you want to, but I’ve seen it overtake you,
Now you forfeit what was once true,
For a modest return.

Scriptoriums in dusty hills announce the new diversion,
The flicker show grants its favours to the picture-perfect person,
Flung afar from every platform, deft manoeuvres make us conform,
We can barely scratch a sentence without the aching to belong.
Deny it if you need to, but there’s no room for what you once knew,
And devotion just won’t get you,
A modest return.

Slick your wick in virgin ground for tricky, quick returns,
Perhaps it’s fair to snatch your share for all that you deserve?
Don’t scratch yourself a meagre living, cash all that you weren’t given,
Surrendering for profit is sure the new religion.
Still, worship if you want to, just remember what is still true,
When something has to give you,
A modest return.

Drop a tarnished penny for the piper that you fatten,
The minor thirds are blue and so the harmony gets flattened,
Maybe it’s a different time, the same old song won’t make the rhyme,
Do I drop the tone when I out the fucking lie?
I didn’t see it coming, even though your mouth’s still running,
Your contributions’ stunning,
For a modest return.

Noise and virtue signals slap the upside of my face,
Because words just lose their meaning if you only cut n’ paste.
Despite approved absurdities and though you have your certainties,
You’ve long been schooled in what to say, been told that there’s no other way.
Now, a change might seem impromptu, but after all you’ve been through,
A change of scene might bring you,
A modest return.

Sometime when you’re all alone, just hold your breath and listen
It’s not always about your point of view or deepening condition,
If you know your co-dependency, turn down your offkey tendencies
It’s like I’ve always known, you’re never on your own
Still, surrender if you want to, as no one’s coming to save you
Half-truths stack up here to push you to
A modest return.