Sharaku Dreams

By John Gould Fletcher

I will scrawl on the walls of the night

Faces.

Leering, sneering, scowling, threatening faces;

Weeping, twisting, yelling, howling faces;

Faces fixed in a contortion between a scream and a laugh,

Meaningless faces.

I will cover the walls of night

With faces,

Till you do not know

If these faces are but masks, or you the masks for them.

Faces too grotesque for laughter,

Faces too shattered by pain for tears,

Faces of such ugliness

That the ugliness grows beauty.

They will haunt you morning, evening,

Burning, burning, ever returning.

Their own infamy creating,

Till you strike at life and hate it,

Burn your soul up so in hating.

I will scrawl on the walls of the night

Faces,

Pitiless,

Flaring,

Staring.