In search of that illusion

In Search of That Illusion


In those darkest moments,
I see my life as if on a path,
A long and featureless road.
But at its end, a light
Gorgeous and awe-inspiring
Exuding its radiance even from its far distant point
Standing out against the abyss

As I gaze upon its brilliance
A cold and bitter wind causes me to turn
Back towards that traveled road
Towards that most feared and hated foe
The looming figure, the cowled face
Darkness incarnate
He smiles and creeps forward,
Slowly, yet inexorably
My chest constricts
As the icy hand of fear grips my heart
Worming its cold dead fingers deep into my flesh

I look back towards my goal,
Hoping to find solace in its warmth,
But as I watch,
The frail mirror that I took to be the truth
Shattered, shattered into a thousand razor blades
Biting teeth of glass lay out all around me
And the light… gone

As I lament in that deepest self-pity
And consider rushing to the arms of that shadowy visage
To end prematurely what I know must one day be
I see that dark follower smile
Smile as one who has won a fixed game
And that thought changes me,
A dull defiance kindles into a roaring flame
Indignation at this cruel game and its players
And much to the perplexed amusement of my shadowy friend
I begin to run,
Into the biting maw of bristled glass daggers
Tearing into my soul
Destroying all that I have built
And I grin the grin of madmen
At the irony of this feeble rebellion
At my follower’s confused expression
At that waning hope that one day far from now,
Riddled with the scars of my misfortunes,
I will come upon that piece of refracted light
Clutch it with all the desperation of life,
Cherishing its radiance
As my follower vanishes into oblivion
And I will know joy
I will know content
I will know no fear