Paradise End

Little Peter lay in bed one night and dreamed
Of gold and silver, crowns and thrones and rings
And through the innocence of his imagination seemed
The dream magnificent; the happiness wealth brings!
For how could Peter know the truth, of Treasure.

Now - Peter had a strong heart: brave and true
He thought for days and sat and formed a plan
He followed it through, for Little Peter knew
Of no other way to be a man
Than a man of wealth and power - to have Treasure.

The riches lay at Paradise End,
He followed the grotto to find it.
He braved the great windy deserts and crossed the seas
And threw him away his sense of self, his dignity.
Lost everything that he once was, was once a boy,
and now as he had planned, a man
stood and fell and crawled on his knees
and climbed back up and wiped away his tears.
And found the bolted door at last which borrows
It’s secrets from the edge of the world.
Threw Peter all away his pain, his hurt, his sorrows
Suddenly inside him something magic swirled
Joy! And flung him through the door to Paradise End.
It ends. It all ends. With Treasure.

Of what lay before him he had never dreamed
Treasure for miles, he had never before seen
It even in his mind, yet he had yearned for it for so long!
Lay him down amongst the jewels, and gave a sigh
Said Peter, “this is where I belong.”

Yet slowly from the treasure something crawled free,
Something like fear, or loneliness or jealously
Clawed at his heart, and Lonely Peter jumped up from the ground.
I must go back, he thought, and spun around
And hunted for the door.
For days and days.
It was gone.

At last he fell again upon the floor
And wept with all his heart, and gave a shout.
Screamed Peter: “OH GOD, LET ME OUT”
For all he’d done, for all he’d seen.
Realised what he could have been.