Between the truths that I’ve seen
And the words I’ve heard I find
Life. Stand up to see another day.
The darkest part of the evenin’
Beseeches the dawn. Stay keen,
We’re taking a journey through wind
And rain. Just don’t fall too far behind
Others need you. All you got to do is stay,
Be a beacon. Look forward in life’s fray.
It gets tough but we’re heading out for brighter skies.
From ashes of a tree obsidian walls rise around.
A ghost conjuring tragedy. Don’t make a sound.
The Obsidian Lord feasts on the hysteria and fear.
Like exuberant birds scattered by a gunshot
We’re the prey in this great hunt. For every tear
They still offer us no mercy. Rage so hot
Burning the rope that we hold onto ever so dear
In hopes that we can find water. Caught
Between hurt and hope yet, tomorrow is so near.
From a well we can still replenish what’s been lost
In search of who we are. They don’t understand
What we have on the inside that keeps us going.
No matter the darkness standing right before us we walk
Without fear. Never give them an inch or they’ll talk and talk.
There were days I couldn’t find the right
Words to say. Old paths lost from sight,
Scars are all that remain after the blood dries,
And where I’m found resonates with our cries.
We both got back up from the hard-felt ground
With dirty knees and scrapes. Hear the sound:
This repeating heartbeat carrying the one true light
That we bleed at times. Some more than others,
Yeah I know how it feels. Like something smothers
Your spark before the flames can rise. It’s a fight.
Lets get back up as many times as it takes for our fires to burn brighter than the stars.
I walk among statues of the people I swore I’d defend. They all stare at the center of the city, the Citadel of Lost Dreams. A group of cloaked men walk to the entrance but stop to look at me. One of them in the back touches their shoulders making them collapse lifelessly. Shadows cover his face and still I could see his eyes. In his eyes radiates a white, illuminated fury.
When a darkness manifests from our hearts
Into existence it’s a blight of the World Tree.
We tried living on green plains and to be free
But we burned it all away. The story repeats.
Twelve blights forsake the roots fighting to live
Among desiccation. We only take and never give.
So will you change before it’s too late?
On the darkest of nights after the brightest of days
I’ll be right by your side until we can see sunlight rays.
The mark of dark I caught from temperate
Seasons festers inside. We eat the fruit
Forbidden. Outcasts t’ fall desolate
And devoid. Cast our hearts from hate and soot.
I touch a cheek so soft and yet tears drop.
Why hurt all night when light awaits ardent-
Ly? Stuck behind a wall, translate: full stop.
A fight we face together. Don’t resent.
Can I just be the wind beneath your wings?
I’ll take you higher to where the choir sings.
When did all the little lies we once said manifest
Into hate and disconnect? The lives we risk in an
Attempt to conceal our sins. Will they ever return?
I looked in the mirror and didn’t recognize myself.
In my hand I hold a sword but, I know I’m a killer.
Dark clouds stretch from horizon to horizon
As if on this day Gehenna comes for us all.
The generals lead us into tactical formation.
Others look at mementos thinking about others
And their promise to return. But this is devastation,
The last station between life and death flowers.
Flowers will grow from the corpses both sides leave.
The pollen will reach loved ones. They’ll cry and heave.
I’m not here for honor and justice. Wars must be fought;
The sins of the few are the sins of humanity. I sought. . .
Peace that never came. If war is the price we pay
Take me instead of these people with lives
To return to.
Step to the drawn line,
The flowers will blossom soon;
We face the storm now.
The sound of catapults firing, louder than thunder,
Echoes across the battlefield. Formation scatters,
Calvary clashes between the carnage, and the blood
Flows from mangled bodies into the fray.
Kindness absent in both our and their eyes.
Instead a flame burns, threatening what’s left
Of our humanity. How the truth is swept
Away even as we bleed under these skies.
Does anyone understand the consequences?
Thieves steal and live, heroes fight and die.
We aren’t characters in a story. We won’t surrender
To those that push good people to kill. Soldiers stand
Together staring into the abyss selfishness makes.
The coins we cast into wells never answered;
Tears into blood and mud. We are the tortured.
We raised Gehenna in search of redemption. . .
In a flash of lightning and fire the cavalry
Enter the abyss. Both armies charge.
We all understand that this evil stage
Will only end when we achieve victory.
I pour my heart into a strike against another blade
To deflect the attack. The enemy stares at me
Like a wild beast. He isn’t wrong.
Other soldiers swing at me as I roll back.
My comrades attack and pierce their chests.
I hear them suffocating. We push forward.
Enemies and allies fall to their knees
All around me. Tears brim in my eyes.
Everyone lays around except me and one man.
Our pain leads us toward each other;
The gravity of our hearts pulls eternally.
Our blades clash with the heaviness we carry
As our feet sink into the bog. A photo falls
From the enemy’s pocket but we attack again.
I scream and kick the man back into the mud,
He takes off his helmet, we stare at each other.
We get ready for another fight.
“Only one can live this hell.”
“By sky, by earth, by sea; return.”
The man slices through my arm
Before I can even react. I fall
Into his arms and stab him in the gut.
“Aim to kill. Your enemy will show. . .”
“No. . .mercy.” He coughs up blood.
I couldn’t watch. I wrap my hands
Around his neck so he suffers no more.
After I pick up his sword and rest it in the ground.
The storm dissipates but, I keep on crying
For everyone that died today; the only sound
Left to be heard. “We were all trying. . .”
“The payment atones but if we never change
Then what good is it? We are all so strange.”
I turn toward the Sun and begin walking.
The fall of blade ricochets inside my mind
Whenever I realize what we’ve been fighting for.
I’m disarming myself with the enemy behind
My back and beneath my skin. What’s in store?
Walls built within aren’t ever built perfectly.
We pray for the sledgehammers secretly.
I’ll have my fights but not now.
Look at the calmness in my eyes,
I’m not willing to fight this war.
The war between my heart, my mind,
And what others say. I surrender.
I just want to be humble and free.
If I forget these subconscious chains
I can forge my destiny even as it rains.
Light cascading from towering mountains
Onto a forest of spruce. Life has its stains,
Things we can’t ever forget because they
Make us who we are and clear the way.
The birds sing their requiem in the morning,
Critters follow instinct, and we see everything.
Follow the river until adventure starts calling.
Meaning, fate, destiny, dreams; the lives we live
Have no final destination for everyone to reach.
We should see eye to eye the mortality inside
Because one day this strength will fade. Listen.
You can chase whatever your heart desires
Be it selfless or selfish. Nothing others say
Will cure us of this affliction. Live a life
You’re proud of. Forget the hurt, chase the light.
Vasha'Lakar 
You must be logged in to post a comment.