The Man Who Knew

THE MAN WHO KNEW
In a small cell
He sleeps with death on his face
Remembering the chase
No longer playing his ace
No one cries for him
Everyone is laughing
No one smiles for him
They are too busy turning away
And in the courtyard of the castle
Only one man knows the truth
About the one inside
The one in his youth
But the man in the courtyard also turns away
Severing all cords
Before they fray
And the man in the cell
The man in the mask
Has no hope
No hope at last

All the people watch
From their own homes
A psychological Rome
Waiting for the hanging
Of the man no one wanted to know
And the people laugh
They are so vile
Soon they turn to see
What they should be
The man from the cell
The man in the mask
Riding in on a horse,
In chains
And everything is quiet
As quiet as can be
All around the town
In every tower
At this hour
There was silence
And the man in the cell
The man in the mask
Was taken from the horse
Someone else was given the task

He was taken up the steps
The man in the cell
The man in the mask
And he was to be asked,
“What are your last wishes?”
But someone from the crowd yelled,
“I think he wishes of fishes!”
But the man in the cell
The man in the mask
Told the man who had been given the task,
“I have no wishes, but only one wish, under the sun.
I wish to be given one last kiss,
From my son.”
And the man in the cell
The man in the mask
Asked for the task of bringing his son
When his son saw who his father had become
He spit in his face and yelled,
“Never again, not this one!”
And now that his one last wish had been fulfilled
The crowd was silent again

The man in the cell
The man in the mask,
Was dead moments later
Nothing left to tell
Nothing felt to ask
But the man in the courtyard
The man who knew
Flew into a rage
And killed two
And when it was the man in the courtyard
The man who knew
Who was in a cell, they asked,
“Why you?”
And he answered them, face all blue,
“Because I should have been the man in the mask,
Not the man who knew.”
So the new man in the cell,
The man in the courtyard
The man who knew
Rotted away
And his last words were,
“Forgive me too, God. For I was the man who knew.”