Now that hourglass says

"Just let it go by--

The words in the air

The spider, the fly."

But I'm locked in this room

Where the web catches dust

And my mind's

On these things

We've not yet discussed

Beware of the riddles

That fiddlers tell:

The clever ones whisper

The clumsy ones yell

And if you listen for clues

In the bars of my song

You'll hear the fly hum

'cause it's known all along

My breach into Eden

That no one forgave;

It looked like a garden

Was really a grave

But now that I'm old

Those memories fade

Which softens the guilt

And this bed that I've made

Now maybe I'm damned

But I shall not forget

Those fangs of disorder

That sting of regret

So here, on my wrist

Where the blood's

Running blue

I've blistered the skin

With a jailhouse tattoo:

The shape of a woman

From shoulder to moon

A long slender neck

To sharpen the wound

Forever silent

My string violin;

A small black reminder

The venom within