Lay Down Your Armor

Lay down your armor
And play for me your precious lyre;
And let me hear
Your deepest dreams and frail desires.

Lay down your armor
And play for me your gentle lyre;
And share with me
The story of your precious pains.

Lay down your armor
And share your sweetest dreams with me;
And tell me who
You saw within those deepest dreams.

Lay down your armor
And play for me your thespian lay;
And show me why
A mortal tongue is sweeter than a lyre.

Lay down your armor
And play for me your songs, singing
Your lovely pains—
The endless nights you spent in dreams.

Lay down your armor
And play for me your little lyre;
And show me why
The world’s less real than our desire.

Lay down your armor
And pluck for me your dainty strings;
And tell me why
A dream’s more real than the world.

Lay down your armor
And play once more your precious lyre;
And show me why
The world can fade, but not our dreams.

Lay down your armor
And let us dream a little while
—Dreams without end—
I’ll walk with you through every dream.

David B. Gosselin is a poet, translator, writer, and researcher based in Montreal. He is the founder of The Chained Muse and hosts Escaping the Brave New World.