Harbinger

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Once I deemed myself to be a Prince of Promise
My potential of things hinted to be of infinite choice
The whole of the world lay at my feet
I had only but to gain that first step
A journey that I would find to be of Infinite jest

With my destination in mind and my course plotted
Would there I pass upon the Highroad, for I was a Prince If only in promise, a Prince none the same
To my dismay, this was not a path well-traveled
Though there would be many, I would meet
So, few to me did it appear
And little did it compare to that of the lower road

How oft I would look upon that lower road
Consider there to myself of the fork not chosen
How varied in the community, how content in their social In what splendid company would I dream upon these folk
How clear, my journey would be to share with so many

But alas I had chosen this desolate road
This high path had I bared my soul to yield
And though the company was few between
How rare in delight and mutual respect
A kinship of rambler’s, wanderers and vagabonds
And perhaps even a couple of Prince’s

The highroad I traveled till I could go no further
With my subtle intent exhausted
And my loneliness laid bare
I found myself upon that lower road

Travel did fare easier than days before
In a beautiful company there did I team
Shared of Thoughts and dreams
Bound together by an earnest desire

I met a woman of such uncommon grace
She smiled upon me with her golden face
A warmth in my heart did spring anew
We talked of things that would be to come
And of things that had been from each of our past
Though she was but a gentle and Gracious spirit
My heart yearned for more

Travel was just, among such kindly folk
But not all was agreeable in the niceties
A few would rabble in their quiet discontent
Some even bickered and quarreled
And a lowly few even cast to deceive
Unfairly would they treat upon their fellow
Further oft than not did I find myself to be in rue

Disheartened would I become, and my loneliness grew
Oh, how I longed for the path of yore
Of such magnificent, excellent company
Lost had I, a smile from a golden face
No further could I view the Highroad
Long lost had it become to me
Would I weep, if but I could?
For tears came not for the weary

Dark of late had my thinking been
Darker even deeper would they grow
With my path no longer fixed
Was the beckoning toward that fated meeting?
For I was Now the Prince of no promise at all

I had to escape
Be for that reason
Long and high did I search
Again, no path made avail
Long did my soul weep softly
The slow breaking of my heart

Long have I given into grief
And long had I given up hope
I was lost, bereft and broken
No longer had I cared to where I was running
Lost was my reason for living

Desperation breeds such destitute company
And in my desperation did I find such folk
Long had we drunk into the night
For each glass lost upon those hours
Our sorrow dimmed as did the evening light

Long was our pain omitted
And long did the merriment flow
Glasses raised often
Drunk had we become

And on how the many days had past
I do not perceive
For a while, it suggests that time had stood still
Folks would come, and where they would pass?
I did not notice, nor did I care
For every one that went
There was always another

Not long had it been
Or so I had assumed
Perhaps a blink of an eye to me
But it had been yet longer still

My image caught to me on one such day
The long lost 'tween.
Cast off between merriment and despair
On a sea of ill tranquility

Oh, how the time had passed
Ancient had I become
Ravaged by drink and age
No longer did I recognize
Was I ever a Prince of promise?
How did my story unfold?

The long sad truth of it all
Long into the early dawn
And long before my story start
Lost on the winds of time
Forgotten by all, including me

For there was not one Prince of Promise
To this story start
I realize, Yet two Brothers
Did this journey begin
Two Princes of Promise

Long now did I rouse to remember
Oh, where did my brother flee?
To where are thou prince?

Then slowly and sinking did my heart weep
For it, all came back to me

Long had he been lost to drink and merriment
His heart had given into his despair
He left life sad and bereft of joy
Except for that one precious thing

He met and fell in love with a woman
With a loving and gentle smile and a generous heart
Though it was brief, A daughter they both shared
His only joy for living

But as it is with such things
Lost to the madness of his own making
And soon after left this mortal world

And now I stand here gazing at my reflection
And genuinely have I met despair
And I delight in him not.

It has been some time now
How long I cannot say
But now reflecting upon that fated day
And of meeting Despair
I have the unfortunate of remembering that Harbinger of things.
Of how it went with my brother
The Fall of a Prince of Promise

An awakening perhaps
Call it what you will
But having had stood there and taken that measure
And facing what needed to be faced
And no longer running
Because occasionally a journey is just another name for running

Life is still dimmed to me
But lest it is not diluted
A shadow still lingers over my heart
I would toil nigh onto this for some time

Then a familiar traveler I met in a time before
One of such infinite Jest
An Old friend indeed would call upon me
A wedding he had set for Fall
An invite even after all these years

Accepted that I did
But as the day approaches, my heart cannot bear
Such utter remembrance of such dark days
But in that Harbinger of things
I remembered of such immense accord we had
And to this, I could not let him down on such a day
And so, I went

This story may appear longer than it must
But if you bear with me, but a moment further
It will be made clear

You see if it weren’t for that harbinger of things
I would not have gone at all
And to this, I would have missed
A woman, with such uncommon grace
Smile upon me with a golden face
Though she had but a few extra lines
She was still of a gracious spirit
And a warmth in my heart did spring anew

The End

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