A Room Full of Laughter

there's a roomful of laughter
and a roomful of tears
and the women wear pearls
dripping from their ears

the men drive sleek daggers
through the heart of the night
and yesterday's memories
are locked up tight

there are children singing
full of dispair
in a room filled with laughter
no one cares

the women are pretty
they slither like snakes
through a roomful of glass
they have no time to waste

the men smoke cigars
and talk of the war
money and profit
and the bright women who whore

small birds shake rain drops
from the limb of a tree
and boys and girls
sell themselves for a fee

in a roomful of laughter
nothing is free

yesterday's dreams
are trapped in a drum
that a clown beats
with the backs of his thumbs-
a terrible beat that
wakes up the sun

in a roomful of laughter
razors cut lines through the snow
silver lives are revealed
in mirrors rimmed with gold

beauty is truth
but truth is a lie
and no one cares
who lives or who dies

somewhere there is purpose
somewhere there is design
but madness is the reason
and hope a waste of time

delusion comes unbidden
and fills the cup of woe
with foolish fabled myths
we come and with sweetest
oblivion go