Surrendered To the Knife
by Michael Doyle

Once you've surrendered to the knife
Your silent pleas won't save your life
This, then, is the solemn price paid
For the best-laid plans never made

This is what it is to be done with mankind
To take the bitter red pills, no longer blind
Fear is not your savior or your friend
And yet, to be brave is only to pretend

In the end, every moment is about love
From those spent in Hell and, from the Heavens above
As we become willing to give our all
For the sake of love, we strive to recall

Faustian bargains are quietly made
With devils of whom we should be very afraid
Having no choice, we put our necks on the blade
Whimpering false courage as our hand is played

Those filled with more love than hate
Beg the world's mercy to tenderly wait
And not to take their loved ones away
Out into a world too cold, lost in words, they pray

Knowing that life doesn't work this way
As believers, we hope on this faithful day
That somehow, we might protect what we love
Seeking miracles out of nowhere but Heaven above

Off we go toward our forsaken twist of destiny
As if our lives are facing their final mutiny
We become as if dairies and books to be read
Maybe sometime after we all are finally dead

Let us each be turned to the grace of page one
Letter by letter to words approved and done
Prayers are made that judgment will be justice won
Somehow, before the new day's rising sun

(c) February 21, 2024   Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved