Joker's Heart

Near the hearth everlasting, underneath a photograph, Stands the joker of this time chuckling once on your behalf. Embers glow inside the dark without passing any heat To the corner of this room, where the heart's hung on a seat. Roses linger on the hill through the last of autumn's day, While the breezes from beyond carry their perfume away. Colors once held in the eye slip slowly from memory, Melding with the joker's song that drifts o'er a yellow sea. News breaks on the morning light far from the dreams tossed away, Springtime rolls from winter's chill, though she is never to stay. Those who watch the weather change fall behind another mile, Caught once more like shadows hid somewhere in the joker's smile. Paintings hang in silence now as though times come to stand still, Voices fade into the haze that covered the distant hill. Joy's now locked tight in the vault of a life kept far apart, The keys hidden deeper still, safe inside the joker's heart.