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 inside 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 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 Gosselin is a poet, translator, and editor based in Montreal. He writes on Substack at Age of Muses.