The Inspection Part 4

The hall was great and old
Patched with decay and life
Many lives and stories untold
of beauty, love and strife

Light and darkness
gamboled along
from the same nest
or a different song?

Paintings of sickening sweetness
nestled along with those great and terrible
Walls adorned with putrid moss
as though no rolling stone was able

'No aesthetic' I muttered
'No health regulation, no light'
'Not fit for an insect' as a bee fluttered
lost in the purpose of flight

People were everywhere
sitting, standing, lying, walking
though dim, with a strong stare
I spotted things beside the singing

Strange incantations,
laughter and cheer
Life giving hugs,
and barrels of fear

They seemed to be grouped
in a manner rather vague
and sometimes trooped
to each others stage

Some in black, some in white
some in jeans, some in robes
some in embrace, some in fight
some in fear, some in hope

a few were far better lit
than many of the others
but there seemed no electronic kit
to brighten these dames and sirs

In the dark corners
I couldn't bear to look
for the evil horrors
that darkness cooked

Children used for depravity
Women held and fed poison
Men twisted in broken bone city
All by power, pride and position

'Someone call the police!' shouted Wade
till he saw a uniform swing his stick
at the mouth of an old maid
life smoked out of a waxed wick

'See! See!' shouted Shrug
whose name was Phil
going thoroughly berserk
and I felt definitely ill

'This it not what this was built for!
For every evil to find its home
This beautiful mansion is a stage of horror
to fulfil every painful groan!'

'True!', the voice calmed my bile
'But why have you stayed
Though this place is full of hurt and rile?
...And me who is one eyed?'

'The lights up!' stated Wade
'and just a moment, you, young lass
You look like that man with the shaven head
whom we met before entering this carcass'

Though disfigured it was true
the face reflected the strange man
who'd called out 'Blue!'
and I smiled though ever so wan

She did too and though her face
mottled, twisted further, I saw
that she was once part of the human race
but for some fury of destiny's claw

'A daughter' she whispered
and all other sound ceased
the waves dispersed
and all pain was eased

The great kitchen of sound
fell back on us, with the screams dying
as a great song began to resound
along with a Deep sighing.

To recite it would be injustice
for it was simple but so filled with sagacity
a song of an ancient time, before dust was
reaching over to the end of infinity

'They're off key' intoned Phil
They were but it didn't matter
I wished I could sing even though shrill
But my voice was just a clatter

'Come, come! Our report is pending!
We can't watch this strange cult forever
we must be truly wending'
He said in a voice less severe?

'True' said Phil ' we shall move on
And witness the centre of our clotted airs
on to the very foundation
Move on up the stairs!' STAIRS?

Part 5