The treasures I seek, the landscapes I roam
Seasons have passed as a heart turned to stone
Back in the day with no place to call home
Sins were committed, and none to atone

Mind but a playground for notions bizarre
Eyes painted crimson, the sky full of scars
Over the doldrums of oceans so far
Sails the salvation on blood of the stars

Dear friends, misfortune befell on my soul
Rekindled flames of a nightmare so cold
Tragedy followed, guilt swallowed me whole
Innocence lost to the crimes yet untold

Words but a façade that blots out the sun
Drowning the sorrow, a bottle of ***
Blinded by light, where to flee, where to run
Dance with the death to the beat of a drum

Memories but shards in this great disarray
Face of betrayal unseen till this day
Bitter and sombre, so hollow, so grey
Sweeter than chocolate those roses of May

Thus, I am undone, but please, heed my call
Spare me your pity, I accept my fault
Fate I have chosen was bound to my fall
Stoic and narrow, my thoughts were enthralled

None shall be tracing the footsteps of mine
Follow the sound of the heavenly chime
Choose your own path at the end of the line
Jump off the rails 'fore I finish this rhyme

Scorched earth, the scent of charred evergreens
Thick, black smoke, the veil of death
Blazing embers and soot carried by the autumnal breeze
Asphyxiating every desperate breath
The fury of flames but a passionate wildfire
Spreading 'cross the flourishing land
The flowerbeds are charcoal, the tall trees expire
A trail of destruction written in the sand

Unfazed and curious, a slender silhouette watches
A forlorn watchman of the nature's will
Admiring the tango of the infernal clutches
The eyes of an eagle, a stranger on the hill
A chuckle, a smirk, a pair of matches at his feet
Thick, black smoke filling up his maw
Exhales the poison calmly, a swift step to leave
The cigarette **** descends from his claw

Alas, the conflagration not caused by fate
But a crime of man, an arson most vile
The price for indifference, an outbreak of hate
Demise of pure beauty in a mantle of fire

Stoic amid the tranquil tides, the temperate zephyrs
But a fluttering spark, travelling through the aeons
Witness to the wonders of time, yet ever fleeting
The bearer of that which outlasts this eternal folly

However, for a certainty, even this steadfast paragon
Does not foresee what the clock hands have in store
And the fallen mouth their soft, intelligible rhymes
Thus the air carries this ephemeral elegy of euphony

But as the voices dance within those hallowed halls
Sound brilliantly in harmony, a display of fervour
The mosaic of echoes dismantled by fate's clutches
Changes imminently, unavoidably, flawlessly

Alas, the decadent phantoms of the days long gone
In their irrefutable devotion to their fallacious lord
Seek naught but to extinguish the astral avatar
Embodied within the solitary luminaire, ever vigilant

Does the final line of defence lay dormant even now
As the messenger of the deep beyond revivifies
The illusion dispelled, disenchanted, disengaged
Situation growing direr, the peacekeeper absent

Sealed within a decrepit maze, the mirrored world
Drawing parallels between the unimaginable still
Lost its own essence in the steadily rising entropy
For none are safe; the fabric of reality is wounded

Tendrils escape from the fissure, liberated at last
Come what may, the very barriers between realms
Once separating life and death, light and darkness,
Brought down in a prismatic flash of scintillation

And as that which tore this rift open runs rampant
The spectres of the past in their perpetual undeath
Whisper but a single innocent inquiry of naiveté
"May we reclaim our corporeal selves once more?"

An epiphany unlike most defeats wishful thinking
The clairvoyant beholder, the ever-present observer
Held their answer for as long as the currents of time
Although hope succumbs last, what is after hope?

Thus, in the demoralising wake of the bitter truth
Let the untamed flames of fury loose, such tragedy
Doom befalls the woeful, weary and withered worlds
For the inconspicuous spark has ceased its motion

The end justifies the means in the mind of madness

As you wished
I ran behind the blossoming cherry tree
Sat at the base of the thick trunk
Resting against the coarse bark, wincing in response
It scratched me through the shirt slightly
But I did not complain
I shut my eyelids tightly and counted to ten
Hastily jumped on my feet to turn
I scanned the place for but a trace, a sign
But you were not there

As you wanted
I ran in the petrol station with a wounded knee
Pleaded for help
When the poor young operator dashed for some hydrogen peroxide
I snuck behind one of the shelves
Grabbed the candy bar
And sprinted out of the store not looking back
Heard sirens on the way, too, but that did not concern me
Thus, I ran through the bushes to the rendezvous point
But you were not there

As you asked
I put on that expensive tuxedo
The smell of cologne saturating the heavy valley air
Looked in the mirror, not satisfied
However, that was not for me to judge, anyway
Called the taxi to take me downtown, southside on the 29th
'Twere supposed to go big that night, I reckon
So I turned the corner to hit the boulevard
Took a seat at the table in that quaint panetteria
But you were not there

As you said
I crashed the night in the forest park
Under the starlit sky I wandered restlessly among the trees
Read that text message at least a dozen times, too
"We've gotta talk, y'know
Meet me there after the lights go out"
I did so, and although I did not fancy the late hour
Decided against betraying the thought
Showed up at the fountain just as the park plunged into darkness
But you were not there

As you pleaded
Against my own better judgement, I thought
"This is ridiculous, and you know it **** well"
Hitched a ride to the still-golden fields of rye
Just outside the city, 'twas late November
But time never mattered to me
Nonetheless, in the fresh autumnal wind
Rested atop a hill not far from the memorial cross
I waited, I really have - for hours on end
But you were not there

As you promised
You wore that pretty red and white dress
Styled a ribbon in your auburn hair carefully
And stuffed a few treats inside of the picnic basket
"I'm sorry that I never fulfilled my word
I'm gonna make it up to you, okay?
Tonight at six. Deal?"
I knew that you would, this one time at least
Pondered and wondered if things could be different
So I grabbed my coat and went outside

But I was not there