Broken Harpsichord

[Strong chord] [Chiming sound] da-dum [Strong chord underneath] [Chiming sound] da-dum [Airy sound] [Reverberating airy sound with strong chord underneath] da-dum [Thunder crashes] dum-DUM! [Sustained strong chord] DUM-dum!

1. Your heart aches for your birth child. Who are we to oppose your thoughts? Through thick and thin you hoped to save us. Still the music stops.

2. Change comes in the morning. The caves halt their whispering as snow fills an entrance. Why wait? Why wait? Why bother?

3. Speech and thought betray you. Words fall apart in disarray

[Drum roll accompanied by choral singing]

U-N-R-E-C-O-G-N-I-Z-A-B-L-E

[Silence & heavy breathing]

4. Now you’re all alone. The children outside have disappeared. The pantry apples, as well. You’re lost without fair maidens.

5. Trust the tides to be ruthless. Trust them to chafe your ankles. Trust yourself to run in spite of this. Anger is fuel for the soul too.

[Inordinate shuffling of feet]

To the west wing:

6. Life is but a flicker. Death can be beautiful then. Stop looking for ye olde golde. Wash yourselves in mud.

7. Your bodies know simple pleasures. How much pain did you cause today? And for what? Another penny?

[Audience moans]

8. We are not here to allay your fears. We are in fact that which you should be afraid of.

9. Grant bail to our mothers. Heal the sick. Raise the dead.

[Shifting of chairs]

From the audience:

Call the Gardaí!

[Cacophonous screams]

[Off-key strumming]