I was happy and hopeful in my youth,

Until the troubles of life taught me truth.

I am drifting aimlessly like a ghost,

Enjoying neither place nor merry host.

I will be forever grim and hopeless,

Unless I recover youth sorrowless.

Once I enjoyed the company of many,

Of my wife, my children, my friends a-plenty,

But now left alone quietly to myself,

Cursing my life as months pass from first to twelfth,

Having watched them all die whilst I linger hence,

In old age refusing strangers past my fence,

And so one night I shouted out to black Death,

Demanding him to explain at grim Sabbath,

Whyfore he had left me living desolate,

With no family to tend me consolate,

And I asked why he bore suff'ring upon us,

A question at which he duly answered thus:

"I am neither cause of the suff'ring you know,

Nor a taskmaster with dread demons in tow,

I am the reaper of sad and wearied souls,

I alone end all suffering's grievous tolls."

With his words I understood his task at last,

My bitterness toward Death departing me fast,

The anger of my heart replaced by sadness,

At which time Death bore me up to happiness.

Confronted with a curious task,

Thinking about it for days and nights,

Contemplating on what I should ask,

It felt like staring into headlights.

Finally I approached the Genie,

Nervous and still a little unsure,

But then a feeling overcame me,

And then I was confident and sure.

The Genie asked, "What shall your wish be?"

"I wish for you to end human greed."

"What problem does that solve, please tell me?"

"It solves them all and Man will be freed."

Neither

Old

Cranky

Optometrists

Nor

Tired

Retired

Anthropologists

Discovered

Intelligent

Critical

Thinking

Inside

Over-sized

Newspapers

Spurring me on to create my fine art,

Though a daily visitor she is not,

My muse guides my vision and loyal pen.

Even when I do not know where to start,

Even when my brain is tied in a knot,

My muse will be there to help me again.

When the day is difficult and raw,

The only way to relieve my stress,

The only way to forget the day,

Is to lay to bed and fall asleep.

As my slumber eclipses the dawn,

My nightly visions act to caress,

And I gratefully follow the way

Of the fairy dreams I wish to keep.

There are some things I can not control,

Some people who will dare to harm me,

Those who are on sly watchdog patrol,

Who only heed what they want to see,

In order to hack my life's console,

Jeopardizing my right to be free.

I once thought I could control my power,

That my intentions would ever be pure.

I once thought I was a lighthouse tower,

Guiding victims of peril to safety.

But since then I have corrupted myself,

Unable to hold back my dark urges.

I wish my power were put on a shelf,

Remaining there 'til with dust it merges.

But alas! my vision shall never change,

Not since that once glorious fateful day.

My x-ray vision now cruel and strange,

Now only provides me with grim dismay.