The Knave of Hearts

Beware the bloodthirsty wolf in sheep’s clothing,

With his album of duck-faced souvenirs.

He doesn’t have time to court all of them, 

Yet he keeps them around for years.

He casts his line out into the ocean,

Angling for that ultimate bite.

Cavalier, he has a few plates spinning,

In case any fall by the side.

This battered, bruised vessel of doom, 

This funnel of insecurity and disease,

Never looks beneath the mirrors surface,

In case he doesn’t like what he sees.

He sucks the life out of his victims,

Bleeds them dry from within. 

For his very survival depends on it,

He cannot play and not win!

They pay for his impoverished ego,

The mask seldom slips in time,

Before he reveals his true self, 

A dozen have bitten the line.

The hook pierces their hearts forever,

Time heals but always leaves a scar.

To forget is a fruitless endeavor,

There’s no trash can on this tool bar.

Yet there is one fish who slips through the net,

Who is onto him right from the beginning.

A plate that refuses to pirouette,

Plays him till it’s his ego left spinning. 

She plays the game, lets him think he is winning.

All seems to be going to plan.

He leans over to seal the deal,

Then she tells him his beard needs trimming!

In desperation he plies her with whisky,

But she won’t be one of his tarts.

She’s onto me, how can this be? 

I am the master, the knave of all hearts!

So the mask gradually crumbles,

He has no choice but to let slip.

The face that had served him so well, 

This charmer was losing his grip!

His only defense is to ignore her,

Slink away, tail between legs.

To find some shady corner,

He bought her a whisky, she gave him the flip!

So unabashed he assigns her to the trash,

Consumes many fish and when he’s eaten,

Consults his vast collection of faces,

Someone will pay, he won’t be beaten!

So again he casts his net,

Many fish die along the way. 

Yet he cannot quite forget,

The one that got away!

She haunts his troubled mind day and night,

Chips away at his befuddled pride.

He pushed her away out of spite,

Yet he wanted her by his side!

Most irregular, how can this be?

Obsessing over one fish in a plentiful sea?

The girl he had wanted the most,

Was haunting his soul like a ghost!

He tries more fish but they fail to satisfy,

Each one as empty as the last.

None seemed to gratify,

That ache in his polluted heart.

As for the one who got away,

The slippery object of his devotion,

She didn’t waste any time,

She was keeping her options open!

Why settle for cotton when you can have silk?

Tin when you can have gold?

Good looks don’t last forever,

They’ll fade as he gets old.

Why choose a flower that will wither and die?

Choose instead a tower that will stand the test of time.

A man with a good heart is worth his weight in gold,

Beware the Knave of Hearts and his vacant soul!