Ballad of the Beast

Man lives on bread alone.

In the deserts of the East
I met a wild, winged beast
Drinking sand and eating stones.
"You there, let me chill your bones,"
Said he of the porcelain grin,
"Your month-long fast has gnawed you thin."
Indeed the vultures thought me dead
So I drank his water and ate his bread.

The creature soothed starvation's sting
And moved the son of man to sing
The Ballad of the Beast.

Salvation
Salvation
Starvation
Starvation

We walked to the city gate,
Where he revealed my tragic fate
To die impaled on a tree:
The end my father chose for me.

Temptation
Temptation
Temptation

Atop the ancient temple's roof
He claimed one leap would serve as proof.
I jumped -- an angel took his bet,
Caught me, and whispered "not quite yet."

Snatched from Death by gilded wings,
Fortune beckoned me to sing
The Ballad of the Beast.

At the zenith of the mount
Where people are too small to count,
My friend pointed to the land.
"You could hold this in your hand...
If only you'd shake mine."
As I did, the sands of time
Shrieked and cowered at my feet,
The trumpet blare of Fate's defeat.

Newly crowned the only king,
I ordered all my pawns to sing
The Ballad of the Beast

As I danced upon the sea,
Mermaids dying under me,
As I danced upon the sea,
I knew I was free.
Free.