To Walk in Eternity

When I was younger in my college days, I dreamed of being older

Because I would get more respect though making the same old mistakes,

Until I learned that mistakes were nothing more than lost opportunity,

And I vowed to not let this precious life pass me by.

I studied the world around me, and took each lesson to heart,

But the oftener I looked, the more darkness and decay I found.

Wars and plagues and other endless scourges of the evil that men do.

I began to despair, though I was assured by others that there was some master plan

Keeping everything the way it should be, static and status quo,

But I could not accept their logic, and so I chose my path.

I was not in harmony with my peers, and so I stole a ride and fled.

So long ago I left my home, have I at last been forgotten?

I am just a man in a box, ward of my own prison.

Free to roam but it feels like I've been here before.

At the brink of doom, on the edge of time,

There is no ending to unraveled possibilities.

These ancient eyes have seen the alpha and omega, all that's in between,

And now you come to me, the man behind the curtain.

Can I take you away from all of this? Yes I can,

But you may not like the things you see, or then again you might.

Come with me, my child, and I can show you what it means

Spending time without regret despite how bad life seems.

Things can go from bad to worse and back again, you know it could,

But there's no evil from whose fruit cannot be sprung some greater good.

You can wait for better weather, or you can brave the storm,

And if you're really good, you can stir the winds a little.

It's not a crime to load the dice if you're gambling with a rogue.

Just sit with back against the wall and see who's watching you.

Life is not always left to chance, some things were meant to be,

But we must take some bad with the good, and hope for a brighter day.

Could anybody know what it means to lose all that you've known?

Faces and places and voices calling, pleading for a little more of life,

Wishing you could make them understand the difference they made?

Knowing you can change it all, except for your own past,

Watch your friends grow old and die while infinity yawns

And slumbers on indifferently, and memories reign supreme?

I stand before you, with no excuse for what I've done.

I have unwoven the fabric of history and made it in my image.

You need not bow to me, it was no mighty task to do the right thing.

But how could you, who never did much of anything, ever understand?

What sort of gods have we become? A ruinous majestic race

Of super-intellects. With hollow hearts we analyze the world.

Which is worse- to see no evil, or to see it all and do nothing?

Someone told me action requires courage, and so I learned

Its not enough to dream of a better life, it must be worked for.

Face your fears and hold out hope for the best,

But expect the worst, and you will never be disappointed.

Do as you will, for so will I, and the chase begins again.

Is it a mark of fortuitous fickle fate to get a taste of death

Even as you cheat the hangman and make your getaway?

Always half a step ahead of the killing touch or the angry mob,

Knowing that your time will come no matter what you do?

Life is fleeting though it may seem at times to linger past its prime.

What others call a blessing, to walk in eternity I call a curse.