06 / Societal Ignition

To Pyre A Beautiful Star

Monuments

Stage light made a halo, then the halo made a case,
Wrapped her up in vinyl, display case grace.
Fans in the front with famine in their eyes,
Her famine in the mirror, meals down to size.
They lift her by the throat and call the chokehold glow,
The higher they display her, the less she owns the show.

Followers follow the fall when the fall finds feed,
Friends turn to food when the front row needs.
They pray to the name while they prey on the face,
Put grace on a plate, put a price on disgrace.
Clap till it cracks, then they call it applause,
Hands full of flowers with hands full of claws.

Fame made my name, then the name made a meal,
Fame raised me tender, then weighed me for veal.
Fans fed the hunger, then hunger fed fans,
Hands made a god, then the god ate hands.
Feed fed my face till my face fed the feed,
Need made the crowd, then the crowd made need.

I chased the flash, then the Flash flashed past,
Captured idle image, Heart throb attack
I wore the mask till the mask wore skin,
I let the lens in, then the lens let teeth in.
They streamed me upstream till the stream grew leeches,
Fame fed from my face, then renamed me features.

Idol means item when the lights get low,
They want you immortal so they own what can grow.
The crown is a collar if the crowd holds the chain,
The louder they love you, the less you own your name.

Her body got branded, then handed to brands,
Clauses had claws; every signature had hands.
They bought her likeness, then liked her less,
Pressed her on vinyl, then pressed her in press.
Label on skin, skin under label,
They tabled her voice, called her body stable.
Masters got mastered, her master got leased,
Peace got packaged as a press release.

Image rights wrote wrongs in the fine print,
Right to her image left her wrong in it.
They framed her face, then framed her fall,
Hung her in feeds like proof on the wall.
She went public: body, voice, and name,
IPO, every stranger got a claim.
Private wounds went public, public wounds got priced,
Every sacrifice came sponsored twice.
Trainee at fourteen, label tween daycare,
Count every pound like the Gram counts their stares.
Skip your next meal so you can be theirs,
Prove idol discipline; dinner turned shares.
She made them worship; they made her wares,
Prayer in the flashbulbs; prey in their stares.

They owned the name, then named the cage freedom,
Fed on her face, then shamed her to feed 'em.
Cut her a check, then checked every cut,
Sold her a stage with the trapdoor shut.
Crown was a collar, the crowd was a kennel,
Halo got merch, and her heaven went rental.
Called her immortal, then clocked what would fade,
Kept all the masters and mastered her grave.

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