Despite themselves, the persist

I

So first, I want you to imagine a naked sky

Devoid of all the stars and lights

And then, slowly populate it with deeper shades

Look upon your fresh creation

And how it avoids all deviations

That come with broken time

II

An old roof, with tiles red

A kitchen and a winter bed

Filled with laughter joy and care

A child in his underwear

The barking dog asks for dinner

Demands it- and then feels bitter. 

She won't be fed a second time;

She ate before, at half past nine

III

I don't know how to say this

To admit it to my confidant, so innocent

But I will be leaving shortly, for quite some time

For this I rhyme 

In my aged decline

The world is a lonely place

So find some one and hold them tight

For all of life is a disgrace

If you look for beauty

I should have told you this before when we had

Longer in the sun under the willow. I used to

Love her branches swaying in the breeze

So elegantly; like a widowed queen

But I digress

II

There's just one light left in the house

As the mother puts on her blouse

All others are asleep tonight

They won't be disturbed

She climbs out the window towards the street

The frogs gurgle

The water ribbits by the gutter

She creeps along

IV

The chemist mixes his elixer

With his tricks he seeks to nix her

But when he finishes his mixture

He pricks his finger-what a trickster

But it's only blood she'll see

And, to put it delicately

The chemist never had a chance

At winning her hand to dance

But they'll move on, they always do

He'll leave for another town

Far away, In the foothills

III

Why do you ask these questions?

What can I tell you of second chances

When I never had a first.

But I'll answer you, or at least I'll try.

II

The woman halts, beside the street

She hesitates

And waits

Unsure of where to turn

To her left sits the school and the playground

Where, in her younger days she used to play

And to her right sits the graveyard

She doesn't like to think about that.

It's where her brother lives

She waits some more

Longing for a change of course

Impossible now.

I

Some things, once set it motion

Act Newtonian.

An axe swinging at a thin young tree

A flower, blooming delicately

The wrinkles on an old man's face

Shattering a dropped vase

But others have a way of changing

The tree repels the axe

The flower never was

The man is young once more

Ceramic reforming

IV

The old alchemist believes in magic

He fiddles with his books and spells

Nothing happens

He curses, leaves the living room

This is a pattern

There are no more tears to weep

II

The cat trembles in the shade

Of the black night and the tall woman

But a soothing voice calls it

"Do no be afraid

Of me. I mean you no harm. Continue

On your way"

Cats don't know english

It runs away, scurrying

Worrying

The woman continues forward

Now she's here

The ruins

They are black and charred

From many years ago

In a forgotten time

I

The sun has always been bright

How it shines

With layers of flaming boiling gas

How it shines

V

BEWARE! BEWARE! YOU ARE NOT ALONE

TREMBLE BEFORE ME

I WATCH

AND I JUDGE

THINK ON YOUR ACTIONS

WERE THEY JUST WERE THEY KIND?

NO?

WHY?

I beseech you to think

I implore you to wonder

Did I do well

In this life?

IV

Boom! Crash!

The magic is real

He wonders what to do now

He paces absently in the empty room

Now that it works

my god it works

What to do

How to help the world

Or get rich

He does not pay attention as he walks

The magician.

His window is wide open

Large as a wall

To the common eye, magic is still for the children

Lead cannot be gold

Everyone must grow old

Or at least, cease being young

III

The adivice I'll leave you with

Before I return to this abyss

Do not do what I did, now what I preached

I was always hard to reach

II

The woman with an empty heart returns

Whatever she thought she'd find

She didn't

She ponders stopping at the grave

He died far away in the war

The casket is empty

Instead, she crawls through the window

Turns off the light

And slumbers

I

Remove the lights you delicately placed

They'll stop burning eventually

Just as you will

Just as we all

V

Not a question, but a demand

Was it worth it.

Ponder this and ask

Is it ever.