Gilded Cage

Alone in a gilded cage

Hands fisted in unabated rage

Smashed bloody against gilded walls

Torn nails scratch painfully at oak paneled halls

Locked away in a prison of my own making

Entered willingly, past forsaking

Silent servants pass stealthily by

Faces averted, afraid to meet my eyes

I hear their whispers, their laughs

At least they follow their own paths

They go home at night to people who care

Whilst I sit here in my lonely bejeweled chair

I thought to follow a dream of wealth

Champagne flutes, caviar, cars, health

My eyes were full of glitter, glitz, gold

Certain all this, once mine to hold

Would bring me happiness, contentment

Instead I find naught but haughty resentment

A prideful husband with hands of ice

Eyes of flint, nights of vice

He buys me the latest fashions to wear

Diamonds on my fingers, jade in my hair

Then parades me, his young trophy wife

Before leering old men with little in life

So they can be jealous of his exquisite taste

Playboy mansion runway, such a waste

A chauffeur drives me to expensive shops

No more for me thrift and swaps

I attend the orchestra, operas, the ballet

Where not a one cares what I do or say

Gone my old friends, left behind long ago

In my pride I reviled their poor souls

Told them I was achieving all I had ever wanted

Cars, mansion, clothes, wealth so vaunted

They warned me money would fall short

Perhaps I should look for a ship in a smaller port

As I stare out the window at the fine trimmed lawn

Watching gorgeous sunrise of a cloudless dawn

I know now my friends were right

My youth is wasted, I've lost my fight

I reign supreme over a silent throng

Missing the old vibrant, raucous song

I'd trade all I now have for what I didst disdain

If only I had listened to their lilting refrain