The stranger entered through the gate
He walked down Crimson Street
He stopped, and all around him wait
He heard the ceasing feet

The stranger said, “All who are near
Gather, hear my cry
I have an elixir here
Drink, and never die”

The people looked at him and thought,
“This man must be lost”
Then one said, “Can it be bought?
How much does it cost?”

The stranger said “The price
Is lower than you’d think
The requirements are concise
Quite simply, drink”

The people said “This can’t be true!
Surely it is fake!
He cannot bring us immortality
If we simply partake”

“Hear me, please!” he cried aloud
The people stared in despise
He was swept up by the crowd
Violence met his eyes

The curtain of mercy we will today
Over this scene bring down
It sufficeth me to say
They chased him out of town

Outside the city gate he sobbed
And wrung his beaten hands
He was bruised, abused, robbed
So he went to a different land

Fifty years, few more had passed
Until he returned again
He hadn’t aged, this old outcast
Though he lacked a single friend

The people, old and weary now,
From fifty years and five,
Saw his face and shouted, “How!
“How is he still alive?”

“The elixir” he said, his voice soft
And trembling with pain
He thought of these people oft
Though they thought him insane

For their frail bodies he could not
Help but shed a tear
They refused before, and now they rot
And still death they fear

Their shaking voices he heard
And his heart did sink
“It’s so simple,” the man whispered,
“They only had to drink”

While it was raining heavily outside,
Two children in shabby, tattered dress
Stormed into our glass roofed patio
And at the door, for mercy did pause

They said they were out to buy empty cans
To make a living and support their family
The only work they could do at their age
And it was not their intent to dilly dally

I was in no mood to entertain them
As my hands with pending works were tight
A week’s laundry and some shopping to do
But was rather indisposed to send them outright

As I looked onto their starved faces
I felt a hard tug deep from within
After a moment’s thought, when I invited them in
In innocent mirth, their eyes did spin

When I brewed for them two cups of coffee
And gave some homemade snacks to munch
Their little faces bloomed in joy
As if savoring a favorite fruit punch.

All the while their curious eyes went
Flashing from nook to nook and every corner
On my well stacked shelves of china pottery
And the costly gadgets and the gas burner

When they were about to leave
They simply said- “Oh! You are rich!”
Of course a new revelation, it was to me
Something I had never thought over much

Yes, with a roof overhead
With enough means to feed my kids
And with a steady income every month
How rich I am compared to those hapless lads

Now, though many years have slipped by
I reiterate to myself what those children said
‘Oh! You are rich’ lest I shall ever forget again,
How rich I am and this thought keeps me ahead!

When I look into the mirror
And stare at my own reflection
I see a stranger sneering at me
I see the patch of dark around my eyes
I see my hair going grey
I see the blotchy skin and wrinkles on my face
It all makes me think
How rapid is the flight of youth

Once I was a bubbly girl
Full of charm with dreamy eyes
The golden vistas cheered my heart
In my dreams I scaled to touch the skies
Love vibrated every nerve
But now a sad change has come over
It all makes me think
How rapid is the flight of time

Once I thought how bright and sweet was life
Agile were my movements, could walk miles
Fatigue I never knew, supple limbs never ached
Life was a roller coaster ride
Today when I look at the young
With wind in their skirts and sunbeams in their eyes
I see the stark change that years have brought
And wonder how rapid the onset of old age is

Though my beauty has burnt away
And my bones have a brittle grate
Still I would like to hold on stubbornly
Looking at each day for what next day brings
As I still have a hopeful heart
And wish to embrace life as it comes
To make it a sweet labor of love
So I ‘rage, rage against the dying of light’!

You know...

You know when
You wake up with that stupid drunk smile spread across your face
As if you had been drinking all night in your sleep
You know when the days pass in a blink and you feel high from just breathing air
Like the air is ****** and your lungs are some desperate junkies arms covered in track marks
You know when the explanation to the unexplainable isn't an answer but the question
You know when your hand trembles every time you go to write
You know when your heart races too quickly with fear and exhilaration
You know when your soul burns and all of hell starts to sing at the sight of it
You know when you feel that your body, your heart, your spirit, your entirety is no longer yours
You know when the madness is coiled around you robbing of your breath and your senses
When the madness seeps in and out of your every heart beat
When your scared and terrified and frightened of how good it feels
And when it feels so good that you're miserable with the hurt and the pain and the beauty of it all
That's when you know...
You know...

*LOVE