~~~ Lad That I Was ~~~

He entered the world unwilling;
Liking his warm dark room.
Kicking and crying, almost was dying,
Birth was none too soon.

Precocious child was he;
Always taking a chance.
To keep from trouble, got stuck in a barrel.
Around the cats did prance.

He's walking down a stony path,
Next to a noisy stream.
Bubbling and splashing, foaming and crashing;
Enchanted as in a dream.

His vision was never ahead;
Always toward heaven or hell.
Once had a lover, heart all a flutter,
But then he was only twelve.

He created worlds on paper;
Gave names to places he'd seen.
His fantasy gave rise to luminous skies,
And stars that never have been.

Then came a time of darkness;
An eternal night of pain.
Trying to pretend his line wouldn't end,
He covered up the shame.

He constructed a wall about him,
So none could see inside.
Won't no one know what doesn't show,
And to everyone he lied.

Then through the mist shattering,
Came a beam of beautiful light.
His breath was gone, her name was Dawn!
He stumbled in her sight.

What to do, he did not know;
Standing upon the brink.
The blackness beckoned, she had reckoned,
And left him there to sink.

He's walking the hills alone,
On a path few have tread;
Noon and midnight, sun and firelight,
Seeking the living thread.

To home he finally returned,
To people he once did know.
His future they say will follow the way,
No matter how the wind blow.