I looked at the Stranger, and the stranger back at me.

I asked him many questions, of things I couldn't see.

I asked him of the nature of man, and so I was told

Of Lust beyond flesh, of Greed beyond gold.

He spoke of impossibilities, of stars so far beyond

He ranted improbabilities, of how the Universe was spawned

He answered things which did not matter, for I asked those questions too

He spoke rarely of himself, but spoke oft of those he knew

The man beyond the barrier, his eyes as calm as stone

reached forward to hand me a scepter of gnarled bone

He said this is your legacy, this is what you'll leave behind

I asked what of my progeny? "They don't exist yet" he sighed

What of my destiny?I screamed in rage

We haven't quite yet reached that page

Why must you mock me so?!

Why not? came the chuckle, which was echoed below

I see now the trickster before me, I can see through his lies

Tis not whom i thought it but a demon in disguise

With a violent tremor the barrier breaks, shattered from both sides simultaneously

Shards of glass attack , trying to enter intravenously

I sit sobbing in the bathroom, the mirror shattered all around

7 more years of bad luck is all that could be found

A failed attempt at self actualization

A figment of my psychosis, masquerading as my salvation

Running. So much running. My knees are weak, my lungs burning. I look over my shoulder to see my pursuer, still about the same distance behind me that he was 3 days ago. I’ve been running for so long I can’t remember my name. It doesn’t matter. There won’t even be a gravestone to show it, if I get caught. I have travelled so far, searching for shelter, for solace. For anything.

But alas, all I see is this abysmally black landscape, stretching out as far as the eye can see. I know not how I came to be here, I simply awoke in this new landscape and started running. That thing, whatever it was, was after me even then. I had not the time to look down to see if I was wearing shoes before the running began. I sincerely hope I was.

I continue running, mist forming a shroud around me; a cold juxtaposition to the searing black landscape. Why am I being chased? Where am I? What is chasing me? These are the important questions, the ones I should ask when I’m not running for my life. The mist thickens.

So tired. So very tired. I don’t think I can run much more. I don’t know what this thing wants, but it seems apparent to me, that it will soon have its wish.

In survival mode

Scrounging, stealing, sleeping on sidewalks

Quietly evacuating the spot i have borrowed from the night

As dawn brings forth a new light

Irradiated rays scorch my skin as I try to find a way Out

Any way Out

I spend my days in the library downtown

My nights across the street from the County Jail on the hard ground

Medication ran out about 3 months ago

Feverishly taken illusion of safety, shattered before then

I search desperately for a guide to show me the way Out

Any way Out

I hear the Council attacking my psyche

Six voices assert their individual and collective dominace

Over my own mind

I heed not their words

No, I say!

Or think rather loudly

The headaches grow

Voices seemingly looking for a way out

Any way out

My spotmate kicks me out of his spot

says I've made the area too noticable

I go to the park downtown

try to get a gun

I fail

I sit on the bench and sob

my life in shambles

My 20 years culminating into this thing I couldn't stand

My "friends" leave

I take my mood stabilizers, trying a way Out

Any way Out