The Man With no Soul

The people still talk of the witch by the stream
Who ruined men’s lives and haunted their dreams
They say she could take the soul of a man
And hold it cupped in the palm of her hand
Till he had no choice but to fall and obey
Forever a broken mindless slave

Then one day a stranger chanced into the town
He seemed just a drifter wandering around
And when she saw him her evil face grinned
“Ah!” she cried “another soul to win”

She approached him and said “it seems to me
You’re a man who could use a little company”
He smiled and agreed that he was quite alone
And like a lamb to the slaughter he followed the crone

“This is all too easy” she almost cried aloud
As her victim walked with her into the house
“Come into my room she” softly said
And led him by his arm to the bed

She laid him down and placed her hand on his chest
And her arm disappeared right upto the wrist
She screamed “I have you, there’s nowhere to hide”
And he felt her fingers moving inside

But then her face changed from a grin to a frown
“Where is your soul it cannot be found”
She looked in his face and felt her heart jump
And withdrew her arm a black bleeding stump
“I don’t understand” was all she could cry
“I’ll tell you where” the stranger replied

I’ve poured my soul out on a thousand stages
And written it down on a million pages
I’ve puked it up face down in a gutter
And hid it away behind steel shutters
Alone in a cold dark airless place
Where no one could touch it, I thought it was safe

But a soul needs love if it’s ever to thrive
And one day I found that my soul had died
All it left was this empty shell
Of a man consigned to a living hell
No part to play, no aim or goal
Just the loveless limbo of a man with no soul