Carduelis carduelis

The growing blush and the beating hearts
of sun in flowers will bring the charm-

spreading wishes, adrift on seeds and thistles,
carrying rubies, bars of gold on each arm.

A call to these arms or a cradle song learnt
becomes bolder, meanwhile their charm ages

until years that have been burnt mean little
more than memories, left trapped in cages.

Hamlet (the first drafts for the musical)

Slings and arrows, now natural shocks can start.
Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.
The rub of words, words, words; I'm sick at heart.

The woman changes faces, I know her as Frailty.
And we know what we are but not what we may be.
Shake off this mortal coil, get thee to a nunnery.

The rest is silence and to thine own self be true
Though you listen to many, you speak to a few.
You see clouds in the mirror of nature, hanging on you.

The bad beginning, the worse stays behind.
Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind.
There is method in the madness of my mind.