Truth In Lies: Lizzie Borden I
by MichaelDoyle

The worst kind of monster
Hides just beneath the norm.
To the untrained eye,
It's a very human form.

They feel benign and harmless,
Even if, just a bit charmless.
Until the curtain pulls back
And all hope turns to sheer black.

A player piano sounds like a nursery rhyme
When all is lost within a true crime.
We hear the discordant as it plays,
Seconds before it's time to pray.

Lizzy searches her house for an axe,
Destined to let fall 40 well-swung hacks.
Revenge sings the names: daddy and mommy
The rest they say is nightmares of history.

Mommy received 40, and Daddy got his 41,
The whole place was messy before it was done.
That axe of hers loved to wail and sing
Until on the gallows, she would swing.

Breathing in just to breathe out
Miss Lizzy removed everyone's doubt.
Women are capable of sinister things,
Especially when her inner demon sings.

Mother tightened the suffocating corset
And pretended to teach things not to forget.
The goal was to remove Lizzy's innocence.
So much for such foul intents.

Paint-by-number was presumed to be the way to live.
After all, a vestal virgin really had nothing to give.
So her hateful mother often plainly said
In he acted, planting disdain in Lizzy's head.

Imbeciles are not allowed to linger
As her suitor put a ring on her finger.
Strike a match and light a fire - 
There is truth in every liar.

There is truth in all the lies,
And you can see them in Lizzy's eyes.
The wretched lack of love fed the monster inside
Until the day that monster could no longer hide.

(c) October 1, 2026   Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved