Slightly used, second hand?
They were lovely illusions,
Reaching high, built on sand.
They had a touch of Paradise,
A spell you can’t explain:
For in this crazy Paradise,
You are in love with pain.
Want to buy some illusions,
Slightly used, just like new?
Such romantic illusions—
And they’re all about you.
I sell them all for a penny,
They make pretty souvenirs.
Take my lovely illusions—
Some for laughs, some for tears.
—“Illusions,” by Frederick Hollander,
sung by Marlene Dietrich in A Foreign Affair
CARLOTTA: Time doesn’t exist.
PONDELIÈVRE: Perhaps so, but mirrors exist.