Dance of Masks

            Ladies and Gentlemen, please, if you wish to taste

            true joy—and

            melancholy concurrently, you must

Clothe your body in the sacramental garbs of

            morality

            and put on the hat of

            law and order,

Before even thinking of entering into this hallowed place—

            the ballroom dance

            of existence we call

            self-interest.

And remember: if you cannot dance with proper manners

            and skill, you will be punished in public forthwith

            by the bastards who sit on the committee of

            fate,

And your name will be stricken from the

            registry of goodwill,

            and you will

            never again receive a ticket for admission to

            the ballroom dance of existence.

Life runs short and the dance runs long, the loss of one

            man is a loss not for all—

            the dance of good times rocks on

            and on in the face of

            everything ...

Yes, we must hurry and dance, as fast now as we can—

            yes, together like this,

            excellent.

How adept your steps and mine are as one, until

            suddenly

            they are not—oh

            shit.