Elided

Her subtle knife carves you without remorse

A feeding, a yearning, consumata est

Feed the drama queen then, she is hungry

She lost her ring today, just so you know, on Market Road

Right after the corner turn, far from the gyre

The cobblestones still grimace at the thought

The merchants chant and drone:

"Ask, you will receive, ask, you will believe"

But this is a mantra that the streets do not share

For they keep what they reap

And leave the rest to the sighing afternoon.

And the jongleurs thrum all along:

Sable metal for a song,

"Vecchi e nuovi, vecchi e nuovi"

Tambourines to beckon the night,

A song for a penny, a drama for a life.

She lost her ring today, just so you know, on Market Road

Right before the fair scales, truth be told

The brewers still remember that story

They say her tongue and stare were just as sharp thereafter

And that her hands were ever after, so much more watchful

At the coming of the dawn.

Draft