A carved oak table, 
tells a tale 
of times when kings and queens sipped wine from goblets gold, 
and the brave would lead their ladies from out of the room to arbours cool. 
A time of valour, and legends born 
a time when honour meant much more to a man than life 
and the days knew only strife to tell right from wrong 
through lance and sword. 
Why, why can we never be sure till we die 
or have killed for an answer, 
why, why do we suffer each race to believe 
that no race has been grander 
it seems because through time and space 
though names may change each face retains the mask it wore. 
A dusty table 
musty smells 
tarnished silver lies discarded upon the floor 
only feeble light descends through a film of grey 
that scars the panes. 
gone the carving, 
and those who left their mark, 
gone the kings and queens now only the rats hold sway 
and the weak must die according to nature's law 
as old as they. 
Why, why can we never be sure till we die 
or have killed for an answer, 
why, why do we suffer each race to believe 
that no race has been grander 
it seems because through time and space 
though names may change each face retains the mask it wore.