This Epoch

"This Epoch"

by Dan Puskar - 1994

The pale realm where man resides

is undoubtedly the sphere

where love would die

pragmatic spectres toil mundane

in a sad, forgotten, opaque refrain

Sailing on seas of regret and mire

forgotten souls drift in endless tire

never to taste the lips of fate

but kiss of breath disconsolate

Labyrinthic, anesthetic, pathetic course

destined to nourish and breed remorse

engaging the minds of men in doom

and infecting the heart of love with gloom

Brought upon this land disease

that kills the earth, the sky and seas

for Heaven's Eye percieves this pain

as man's own gift to bile and flame

Spritely figures dance and sing

embrace the joy and light of spring

Behold this world as precious sod

and light of heart they merge with God

They feel caressed and charmed by life

feel no worry, bear no strife

But suffer persecution still

by the faceless, soulless, nameless ill

To what end existance bears our seed

A burdened journey weighed by greed

Beset by plague, bereaved by love

because of deeds we're guilty of

Continents of men view destiny

on worlds anew in blackest sea

How bold this plan to voyage far

though we know not who or what we are

We do not see the shardes of light

encompass wisdom enough to fight

our own destructive instinct or

that which we ourselves deplore

Perceive as base, condemn as ill

and go on living in our swill

Continue to idealize and

dream of realms to 'civilize'

Yet man as such can never see

what the folly of his thrust might be

Not deities but mortal souls

whose ignorance and failures toll

Forever grinding into mist

where no sound nor light nor texture is

Blind and deaf, this stumbling race

spins on endlessly through space

Born again to err and try

the bounds and bonds of mortal skies

Karmatic cadences drum and chime

as God and Earth condemn with time

And human nature is to own

as steel and fire is to bone

Romances too, though sweet and tender

are no oasis from this splendor

Love is such that all mankind

persues its bonds and gifts sublime

And though it's tethers distill a joy

what dreaded poisons it does employ!

To what length love engages deep

pleasant hopes that would but sleep

And how it pains and murders those

who plunge into it's baleful throes

But trials of such a mild nature

are deserving of no more a stature

than childs play or tales for girls

in such a hateful, war-like world

Of more concearn is money earned

Love forgotten, beauty spurned

When death is king and conquest queen

romance fails to mean a thing

Centuries of thoughless, idle

submission without doubt or trial

have condemned these sordid masses

who could only appear as asses

in eyes of God and view of self

if perception ever lent a well

of wisdom for this tomb of minds

we in folly have defined

Were their truth without dispute

and vision of divine repute

for justice to be uniform

amongst this torrid human storm

Then the most apparent lie

that Enlightenment would spy

is sociatal charade

and authority's inept facade

It seems that they who only see

success in fame and revere

are those deserving less a fate

than those content to vascillate

For those who live a life of ease

more likeley spread a fell disease

While those who seek approving eyes

are more the ilk to harbour lies

The like of those who will not bend

to wills of iron evil sends

who stand against the flow of all

that contradict the great and small

are children of a Greater Plane

and so are subject to great pain

An injury that pierces through

the flesh and soul of Strength and Truth

Birthed by ill our societal swill

takes root in days when the mercilessly killed

were just and true, free and one

amongst this Earth, the stars and sun

Accused and cursed, burned and buried

for union with God these innocents harried

And with them died the sweetest words

that may have saved this sad, drab world