---

Refracting vibrant colors

forming a transparent web of

awesome brilliance far overhead

Almost oneiric in it's beauty

What is this illusion

and what does it signal

For those of us who denounce the nihility

brought out from within?

As if granted the gift

to move through dreams

drawing closer we make our approach

and cross it's labyrinthine rays

Now as lost souls with the maze inversed

astonished by the rapid obscuring

of what we held dear

Relinquishing any progress made

with reckless abandon and contempt

for the endless search for purpose

Only pain can foster growth

only death will yield any change

all to gain through pursuit

yet all is lost when the will is no longer there

Picture if you can

From atop a cliff face you gaze out

toward the vast churning ocean and over time

as the tide rises then recedes

all who stood before it are cast into its current

What one may associate with peaceful serenity

ultimately brings volatile destruction

unbiased and unfazed by the havoc it unleashes

'til all goes calm again

Like nothing existed in their place at all

in the end what was there amounted to naught.

For what reason do we fret over concepts such as meaning

if we're destined for the same fate?

It can't be. There must be more.

yet this is where we stand

subjected to poignant reminders of life

devoid of hope

merely longing for what's been lost

Only death

Only pain

All is lost and nothing's gained

How can we expect to bear the torch

when we inherit nothing but ruin?

What's there to do but wander aimlessly again?

nigh impossible to discern where to go from here

suspended

she floats tranquil in the pale nothing

paralyzed and rendered mute.

The shadow expands, blurring lines

between white and black

As one they converge. Shadow and light in eternal union.