They're

Selling postcards

Of the hanging

They're painting

The passports brown

The beauty parlor

Is filled with sailors

The circus is in town

Here comes

The blind commissioner

They've got him in a trance

One hand is tied

To the tight-rope walker

The other is in his pants

And the riot squad

They're restless

They need somewhere to go

As Lady

And I look out tonight

From Desolation Row

Cinderella

She seems so easy

"It takes one to know one"

She smiles

And puts her hands

In her back pockets

Bette Davis style

And in comes Romeo

He's moaning

"You Belong to Me I Believe"

And someone says

"You're in the wrong place

My friend

You better leave"

And the only sound that's left

After the ambulances go

Is Cinderella sweeping up

On Desolation Row

Now the moon is almost hidden

The stars are beginning to hide

The fortunetelling lady

Has even taken

All her things inside

All except for Cain and Abel

And the hunchback of Notre Dame

Everybody is making love

Or else expecting rain

And the Good Samaritan

He's dressing

He's getting ready

For the show

He's going

To the carnival tonight

On Desolation Row

Now Ophelia

She's 'neath the window

For her I feel so afraid

On her twenty-second birthday

She already is an old maid

To her death

Is quite romantic

She wears an iron vest

Her profession's her religion

Her sin is her lifelessness

And though her eyes

Are fixed upon

Noah's great rainbow

She spends her time peeking

Into Desolation Row

Einstein

Disguised as Robin Hood

With his memories in a trunk

Passed this way an hour ago

With his friend

A jealous monk

He looked

So immaculately frightful

As he bummed a cigarette

Then he went off

Sniffing drainpipes

And reciting the alphabet

Now you

Would not think

To look at him

But he was famous long ago

For playing

The electric violin

On Desolation Row

Dr. Filth, he keeps his world

Inside of a leather cup

But all his sexless patients

They're trying to blow it up

Now his nurse, some local loser

She's in charge

Of the cyanide hole

And she also keeps

The cards that read

"Have Mercy on His Soul"

They all play

On penny whistles

You can hear them blow

If you lean

Your head out far enough

From Desolation Row

Across the street

They've nailed the curtains

They're getting ready

For the feast

The Phantom of the Opera

A perfect image of a priest

They're spoon feeding Casanova

To get him to feel more assured

Then they'll kill him

With self-confidence

After poisoning him with words

And the Phantom's

Shouting to skinny girls

"Get Outta Here

If You Don't Know

Casanova is just being

Punished for going

To Desolation Row"

Now at midnight all the agents

And the superhuman crew

Come out and round up everyone

That knows more than they do

Then they bring them to the factory

Where the heart-attack machine

Is strapped across their shoulders

And then the kerosene

Is brought down from the castles

By insurance men who go

Check to see

That nobody is escaping

To Desolation Row

Praise be to Nero's Neptune

The Titanic sails at dawn

And everybody's shouting

"Which Side Are You On?"

And Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot

Fighting in the captain's tower

While calypso singers laugh at them

And fishermen hold flowers

Between the windows of the sea

Where lovely mermaids flow

And nobody has to think too much

About Desolation Row

Yes,

I received your letter yesterday

(About the time the door knob broke)

When you asked how I was doing

Was that some kind of joke?

All these people that you mention

Yes, I know them, they're quite lame

I had to rearrange their faces

And give them all another name

Right now I can't read too good

Don't send me no more letters no

Not unless you mail them

From Desolation Row

Brief Synopsis: During the 17th Century, a "comfort woman" named Beatrice exiles to a small shack in the woods with her two young children after being accused as a witch. Over the course of their stay they encounter several demonic figures in the form of different animals such as a snake and an eagle. Because of this Beatrice increasingly starts to become paranoid, believing that her two children are "demonic".

Ending: Beatrice is burned inside the shack by the townspeople who had recently discovered her whereabouts.

*I'd think this would be a short novel consisting of less than 200 pages.

John was driving his car at the highway, his soft hands steering. The car moved in a swift and straight direction. There were no other cars present. The tall trees covered most of the sunlight, darkening his sight. A female soprano opera singer started singing in Italian, coming from the radio. The radio suddenly changed stations resulting in a mix of different sounds. "Heavy traffic is expected at MacArthur Avenue", a radio announcer said. Meanwhile a man doing an impression of a woman started, "Honey I'm Home", followed by a bunch of laughter. "Oh, In heaven there'll only be you an me", a Texan started singing until he is interrupted by the voice of a young woman who sang the words, "Beautiful stranger; beautiful danger". By this time John's mouth kept opening and closing as he tried to calm himself down. The radio kept changing stations at an alarming rate. John stopped his car as he turned off the radio. He then started it again and moved on when another car at the intersection broomed closer and closer.

John woke up in the middle of a pure white room. He looked at his bruised body, not knowing where he was. The window only showed the plain blue sky. He then opened his mouth and held a deep breath before going back to sleep.

His father moved his wheelchair. "I built a ramp here just for you", he said to him as he moved his wheelchair, approaching the ramp. The wood that supported the wheelchair moved unsteadily as the wheels go up. "Andrew, it's not steady you might cause him more pain", an old woman, John's mother, shouted as she walked the stairs up. Andrew struggled to push the wheelchair up. "Margaret help me", he said. Margaret, who was already a the porch, moved to the ramp and helped John move up in his wheelchair. John's face was still and pale, like a dead man's face.

The three were now seated together in the dining room. One chair was moved out in order to make room for John and his wheelchair. Margaret started, "Dearest Lord, we thank you for our son's safety. We thank that he's safe here, with us. And we thank you because I know he's going to feel much better. All of us are here because of your grace. Amen".

Andrew rolled the wheelchair softly to a bedroom. He opened the door and left the wheelchair in the middle of the room. He carried John's light body into the bed and tucked him in like a little child, his face still pale. "Do you want anything else", Andrew asked. "No, thank you papa", John replied. "Goodnight son", Andrew told him as he exited the room. As he shut the door, a picture frame fell to the ground, the glass breaking into pieces. An old picture of John smiling.

"Is he asleep yet", Margaret asked.

"No not yet", Andrew replied.

Andrew then took a seat at the couch beside Margaret.

"What happened to our son", Margaret asked.

"Well, he got into an accident and is still very shocked about it"

"No, I meant why he became the way he is now"

"I guess he just grew up"

"I mean, he barely even talks anymore. When he was little was the most talkative and brightest person in the room"

"Margaret, give it a rest. We all change"

"I know we all do but why did it had to happen to our son"

Andrew opened the curtains revealing the sunlight. John was already awake. "Good Morning", he said to his son. He then lifted his body, feeling it gained a few pounds. He moved it to the wheelchair and headed to the dining room.

Margaret walked down aisle four; Cereals. She took a box of 'Fruity Os'. "Cereal, what do you need that for", a woman spoke. "Long time no see, Margaret", she continued. "Kiara", exclaimed Margaret. "I haven't seen you since my son was in High School, how are you". "I'm good, how about your son, is he okay", asked Kiara. Margaret let out a small sigh. She replied "He's still recovering". "That's good.", said Kiara.

Andrew opened the faucet. He carried John to the bathtub full of water.

Margaret had encountered another friend at the market. "It's so tragic. I included him in my own prayers. May the good lord bless him", she said. "Thank you", was all Margaret could say.

Andrew had already taken John to his room.

"You know I saw Kiara today, guess what she talked to me about"

"What"

"She talked to me about John. Doris also talked to me about how she felt sorry for him. You know this is the only time they've talked to me for years"

John was in his bed, awake. He took a mirror from the bedside table and looked at his face. His eyes were drowning in tears. Even his lips were bruised. He moved closer to the edge of the bed and fell. Andrew and Margaret opened the door. "What did you do", Margaret shouted. They both helped John lay down again.

"I'm in pain", John said.

"We know you are but you'll overcome it like you always--"

"I'm in pain and nothing can heal me. I heard you last night, 'why did our son have to change'. I am in pain, in deep deep pain! Do you know what it feels like to have a mother who doesn't like his own son. Do you know how it feels to be left out from the world. I may have suffered because of the incident but I have always felt pain even a long time ago. I also miss how I used to be. How I used to be so happy and full of life. I was even quite glad when I thought I would finally die. How I escaped from it, I don't even know. Now I have to live in pain for the rest of my damn life", with this John started to cry.

"Son, you know nothing about pain. You are a child and believe me when I say that your life will get better"

Margaret moved closer to his son and sat with him. Andrew also sat beside him and hugged both of them.

Later John took a glass, once again to look at his face. Suddenly he felt as if he saw the reflection of a dead man smiling at him.