Altar of Venus

Lyrics

The hall is quiet, the patron takes her chair.
I have a verse of where the pilgrims walk.

To say it plainly is to court despair,
To name the earth is treason in the dark.
So I must build a chapel in the mind,
And leave the heavy, breathing world behind.
I draft a sanctuary on the page,
To sneak the devotion right onto the stage.

At the Altar of Venus, the words are allowed.
You may kneel in the hush, you may speak to the crowd.
If you form it of marble, they praise the design,
And nobody questions the shape of the shrine.
We cover the columns in velvet and gold,
And leave the true centre a secret untold.

I bought a cushion costing forty pence,
To ease the knees of those who come to beg.
We build a wall of classical defence,
To keep the shadow falling on the page.
A living lady makes the bishop frown,
But give her a temple, and the room bows down.

At the Altar of Venus, the words are allowed.
You may kneel in the hush, you may speak to the crowd.
If you form it of marble, they praise the design,
And nobody questions the shape of the shrine.
We cover the columns in velvet and gold,
And leave the true centre a secret untold.

The jaw locks heavy just before the sound,
The blood knows danger ere the thought arrives.
You feel the ruin, so you dress it down
In myth and myrrh to quiet down their eyes.
I keep my focus on the quarto sheet,
And hide the hunger at the royal feet.

At the Altar of Venus, the words are allowed.
You may kneel in the hush, you may speak to the crowd.
If you form it of marble, they praise the design,
And nobody questions the shape of the shrine.
We cover the columns in velvet and gold,
And leave the true centre a secret untold.

Maintain the reverence.
Never look up.
Praise the procession...
And hand back the cup.