Lady Jane Goes Gently Down

She glides into the gilt salon

And waves her tender hand,

The patrons guess her measures

As she formulates a plan,

Assembling the pieces

From Anais to Chopin,

And other notions one might entertain.

In fables some are turned to salt

We’re guilty, but it’s not our fault

What is going on here, Lady Jane?

As patient as the Parthenon

Where once Athena stood

Her scepter pointing at the roof

I hear was made with wood,

Then whispering a sacred verse

We wonder if we should

Have heeded as the veil is rent in twain.

The temple needs rebuilt, but these

Instructions are for a trapeze

Can you clarify this, Lady Jane?

A hundred husbands offer her

Their feelings to be soothed,

Her burden is to carry tunes

And romance once removed.

As princesses are palaced

And the Mona Lisa Louvred,

She’s Hollowed in an intricate domain.

Burning through her underwear

She drapes a purgatory chair

Are you laundry-bound now, Lady Jane?

The jealous and possessed all said

One more than they could see

Walked shrouded and beside them

On the shores of Galilee.

We need a keen detective

Or the culprit may go free,

And only shades of Dorian remain.

We board that train without our masks

Just sing when the conductor asks

May we see your ticket, Lady Jane?