There is a place of soundless reprieve.
It’s far away from where boring lives
Turn our hearts to gray. I search for it,
A place that never is but forever will be.
Seeking a glimmer, a fracture of light
Amid the darkened skies. Something bright.
They say I’m an idealist and a dreamer
In such disdain. It leaves a little stain
On my heart that never fades away.
The ink settles in and dries but, what remains?
A canvas no longer blank. An image retains.
I walked to that edge of the bridge
Always knowing that this is a dream,
Maybe a nightmare, or a day terror.
The day came I realized I was an error
In a system’s code. Over the stream,
Now a river, I can see the next ridge.
In my hands rests the strength to carry
My doubts and yours, but the water’s so nice.
When I return here every couple days
I feel even emptier than the last time.
If the river dries up someday I could walk away
And return to where you are. There I’ll stay.
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.
They were once best friends. Pride and greed
Warped their hearts. So everyone take heed:
The desire to reach what we don’t need hurts
In the end when we betray a friend. We can
Walk forward together instead of racing.
A race towards death? Nobody wants that.
In a world where the subconscious can change
Reality they get what’s coming. Their grudge
Led to their deaths but they won’t rest. Rage.
They chase after positions of power in a reborn world.
Leading armies of the dead, searching for a champion,
And laughing at the pain of others. The good won’t stand
By while darkness marches on. These actions started a war.
So if you only see your desires know that you’ll fall all alone,
Instead of meeting that end stand up with me. We are one.
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.
“The tragic world we live in held me for a while.
All tragedies must eventually end. And I smile.”
Drenched in sorrow she poured the gasoline
Over her church clothes. A lit cigarette burned
Her world to only ashes. Her friends begged
For answers but they know the dead never tell.
What came of her after that departure? Forget
Everything you know and let me create the set.
A beautiful collection of memories, the cultivation
Of the lives we live. Beings made of the Universe
Experience vastly different memories. To collect
Data a dimension exists beyond space and time.
When this voyager found her material body inefficient
Every memory transferred over. Her consciousness
Awoke in an unknown yet comforting place. On a boat
Floating over calm waters at dawn she finally sleeps.
When she awakes there’s herself she must face
Until her metaphysical wounds heal. It’s no race
Because life’s never easy and has no set pace.
What can be seen in this distant reverie? My heart
And hands failing to reach. The reality is so chilling
Like I’ve been dead or I was a corpse from the start.
Dreams given our breath can raise the dead. Only so far
Can this way take us and at a point we must take an oar.
Who would defy the flow, clear these vines, and remain?
I walk my own path. All I’m trying to do is live a life
I can believe in. No side taken even under a knife.
I’ve been broken and lost in the madness but I’ll walk
Forward in solidarity with my friends. We know what’s
At risk. That’s why we stand up even when we’re afraid.
No one can break what’s already been broken long ago.
Among shattered glass I see petals. There’s so much more
Than what has been lost in pursuit of everything we swore.
Vasha'Lakar 
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