The Dummy by Michael Mack
In that forgotten part of town
Where wasted hopes and dreams abound
A wrinkled man with life near end,
In hopes to have at least one friend
Fashioned bits of wood and things
And made a dummy run by strings
He sat alone for hours on end
Conversing with his only friend
And found delight within the fact
That he controlled it's every act
He told it how he never had
A chance, since all his luck was bad
Although he'd tried so to succeed
The dummy nodded and agreed
And how his journeys in romance
Had never given him a chance
And wasn't it a crying shame
That he was always held to blame
When everyone knew, oh so well
That life is but a living Hell
Controlled by lust and power and greed
The dummy nodded and agreed
With patience that would rival saints
That dummy sat through all complaints
And, with each little expert tug,
He'd droop his head or bow or shrug
And give some comfort to the man
Who held his lifelines in his hand
And helped to fill a lonely need
When he just nodded and agreed
Senility increased with time
As did the old man's phantomime
And feverish fingers pulled with glee
The dummy's dance of misery
They never left each other's side
Until the day both stopped and died
We found them lying, hand in hand
The dummy - and his wooden friend
Where wasted hopes and dreams abound
A wrinkled man with life near end,
In hopes to have at least one friend
Fashioned bits of wood and things
And made a dummy run by strings
He sat alone for hours on end
Conversing with his only friend
And found delight within the fact
That he controlled it's every act
He told it how he never had
A chance, since all his luck was bad
Although he'd tried so to succeed
The dummy nodded and agreed
And how his journeys in romance
Had never given him a chance
And wasn't it a crying shame
That he was always held to blame
When everyone knew, oh so well
That life is but a living Hell
Controlled by lust and power and greed
The dummy nodded and agreed
With patience that would rival saints
That dummy sat through all complaints
And, with each little expert tug,
He'd droop his head or bow or shrug
And give some comfort to the man
Who held his lifelines in his hand
And helped to fill a lonely need
When he just nodded and agreed
Senility increased with time
As did the old man's phantomime
And feverish fingers pulled with glee
The dummy's dance of misery
They never left each other's side
Until the day both stopped and died
We found them lying, hand in hand
The dummy - and his wooden friend