Shangri-La

So I wrote again. This took longer than it should have. Only fair to warn you, this is a long one. SHANGRI-LA Prologue The village gates stood, like old men stand Worn with age and bent by time Rust had claimed each iron face As had wrinkles done with mine The iron giants stood apart Shaking as the north wind blew Creaking as their maker passed I felt certain that they knew I am leaving Wuling now Gripped she by the throes of death Touched she by the hands of time Breathed she the last of her breath Nature would not save Wuling Famine leeched away her life Pes-tilence claiming her people Among them, my sons and wife Pain speaks every language known So I found when it found me And while not all men know its tongue I've come to speak it fluently Hard times then were made much worse My mind, seeking to reflect Made my memories seem as curse I, not master of pain yet I was young, when youth prevailed What held youth but sweeter days And a certain frame of mind That was bent on foolish ways? We were fools ere wisdom came We were glad to dream of heaven Religion held our vices tame Schooling us on sins of seven We were glad and light of mind Pleased with all our blind eyes saw Joy, the birthright of mankind Would dwell with us forevermore We were young when youth prevailed Nimble minds, and bodies strong But the reign of youth was short And we found that we were wrong They came upon us sudddenly The weeks of cold, the months of drought A strange disease swallowing my people Spitting shrunken corpses out We had hoped but hoped in vain I had prayed, it came to nought I, once smith of a large village Leaving it through gates I wrought Shangri-la Heaven having failed in hope Hope itself found wanting Having lost all I can lose I am left with nothing... I will go to find respite Where the dreams of men collect Where the signs of hard years fade And the weary can forget I will go to Shangri-la Ease to soul and peace to mind Strength to all those weak in body All that man can hope to find I am going to Shangri-la South of God and north of men West of every broken dream East of those who hoped in them Shangri-la, covered in snow Dwelling there, the ageless Yeti Older than the sons of men Wiser than the stars are many I am going to Shangri-la Earth's last sign of heaven touch Hidden from the eye of man Kept outside of evil's watch I am going to Shangri-la Nature's lastborn wrapped in ice Whitened by freedom from taint Holy mountain paradise I am going to Shangri-la Far beyond the reach of time Far above the grasp of fate Webs spun of it's own design Utopia will bring relief Severing chains of desolation Re-acquiantance with belief By the aid of restoration Let the past relent in chase That the haunt of loss may cease Gone sons, to a better place Found wife, an eternal peace Refuge be found in holy haven Pain be lost on mystic land Moved by change on tidal waters As in castles made with sand Shangri-la, a last resort Sought by many, found by few Hidden in the Himalayas Shielded from external view Shangri-la, paradise lost Closed to all enslaved to vice Seen by he whose need is most Never found by one man twice Shangri-la, the name brings warmth Weathered face wrinkling to smile I set on the road to rest Which I know is marked with trial Leaving all I know behind That my pieces be made whole I am going to Shangri-la Peace to mind and ease to soul...