(‘twas not a question worth venturing far)

I found a man on a mountaintop

Who bid me stop

To stay awhile, and hear:

“Trust no one!” said he, looking grim

(‘twas not the question I was asking)

But I ignored him and did not stay

Because who was he to say

I did not, in the end, trust him.

Shun the windows of this wretched stair

The evil sun in the widow’s hair

‘ware the gifts the shadows share

Confound!

A light I see but is it me?

The lidless eye that ‘lone can see

A truth that shall set me free

Echo the sounds of my pursuit

CONFOUND, CONFOUND, confound…

Now presumably we've all seen both of these before and even tried to compare them so I don't really expect this to offer blinding new insights, but at least now we can freely kick notions about. I've had quite a few but none of them really seem all that plausible, from straight numerology to trying to guess if the RM poem might indicate our bad guys don't currently know they are bad guys. As both poems have a certain flavor of that "Don't even trust yourself" though that could indicate evil masons bonds, damaged cops, or millers too... or of course none of the above.

The 'lidless eye' comment almost makes me wonder if we're in the LotR setting, especially with the mountain reference and the general flavor, that's about all I've personally scavenged from it thus far though, non-specific guesses.