Alchemy

Scrabbling through the library,
Through scrolls both new and old,
An apprentice of the Alchemy,
Sifts through letters for his gold.

Four drops of vitriol,
A stone of sulfur yellow,
Searing heat, freezing cold,
Boil it with the bellows.
Recipes by the dozen,
Theories everywhere,
Fretting and forgotten,
He mutters to the air.

He chews his lip, turns the page,
Beady eyes search hard,
For secrets of another age,
To save him from his guard.

Four drops of vitriol,
A stone of sulfur yellow,
Searing heat, freezing cold,
Boil it with the bellows.
He’d promised he could do it,
Make riches out of lead,
And if they new he’d faked it,
They would have his head.

His guards grow impatient,
The queen waits in her den,
And with a lie so blatant,
He creeps closer to his end.

Four drops of vitriol,
A stone of sulfur yellow,
Searing heat, freezing cold,
Boil it with the bellows.
The guillotine is ready,
He doesn’t have much time,
The spectators are many,
To see him strangled by his lie.

Illusion, magic, and reality,
Would never work together,
And as his heart beats frantically,
He runs back to his tower.

Four drops of vitriol,
A stone of sulfur yellow,
Searing heat, freezing cold,
Boil it with the bellows.
The lying scum is locked in,
Soon to be stone cold,
But the guards gasp when they find him,
Turned to solid gold.