I Am a Beast

I am a Beast— I dwell in the Realm of Hunger. Once upon a time, when I was younger, Some enchantment did enfold My heart in frozen, icy cold; And my world became a prism— Mirror image of a schism Deep within my very being. Soon all I was ever seeing Was the surface of a looking glass… I could not break this curse— alas— Now I’m a Beast all shun and damn. Though surrounded with wealth, ad nauseam, I lack the treasures of the heart; And I am doomed to live apart From everyone. There is only One way to save me from being the lonely, Ugly, stupid Beast you see… Someone beautiful must love me. But that’s impossible, I know all too well. And there’s nothing else that can break this spell. ~ Harley White < 1987 > [From: One Two Three a Trilogy – One – “Beauty and the Beast” – my rendering in musical theater – based on versions by Madame de Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot Villleneuve (1740) and Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont (1756)]