Mountain of Consequence
by Michael Doyle

There are legends of lost treasure
That goes deep and beyond known measure
The locks that must be broken
As the stories are told, quietly spoken

Mankind's greed leads to death
An old man mumbles under breath
While the bringer of life begins to bleed
One more breath is all he needs

Under the pines, in a valley of sorrow
Life ends so fragile, with no tomorrow
We might wish to force new strength
In the end, a day only has so much length

Everything and everyone that we meet
Whether in a castle or out on the streets
It seems everything and everyone dies
All that is left is the wounded soul that cries

For all life's horrors, this is the end
There are no more fairytales or pretend
Sometimes the only answer is the harshness
That leaves tortured souls in perpetual darkness

Left in the call to reach and touch fate
Only death and misery know that date
And a promise that those who survive must forgive
This is the true secret of how to live

No tears can return a fractured soul
There is so much of life that is out of our control
All that we have is to love those we know
And the secrets we've buried under the snow

Heartbreak is so hard to earnestly embrace
These are the sorrows that burn their trace
Our search for answers leads to arrogance
And the cold calculated science of intolerance

The mountain of consequences brings us to see
All that will be paid to set mankind free
Free to face with death, in awe of the universe
As the poet writes, maybe, his last disenchanted verse

A frozen prayer begs out to all for a little mercy
To an unknown god and with a heart full of heresy
Is this then all that comes in seeking glory
It seems so in echo of mankind's age old story

(c) February 28, 2024   Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved