True Riches
Location
Off in the distance there was a land across the sea,
In the night there was a cry,
Rousing sailors passing by,
But just what was on that island remained a mystery,
A mystery drowned with lore and history.
Darkness and fog was an every present shield,
Acting as a cloak,
Mirrors and smoke,
Preventing prying eyes from searching its field,
A field that has done well to hide its yield.
No one dared enter that horrible and treacherous place,
Whenever a ship drew near,
The sailors shriveled up in fear,
Praying the waves would destroy them, leaving no trace,
No trace underneath the foaming mouth of grace.
Several brave hearts set out to face the monster hiding in the mist,
Pulling swords out of sheaths,
They were twigs against the teeth,
The stony teeth that broke down those brave enough to persist,
To persist against the monster in the mist.
Despite the many failures to tame the uncharted and distant land,
Out of wonderment and curiosity,
A man who loved philosophy,
Decided to take a risk, borrowing a boat both rickety and unmanned.
Alone on a boat both rickety and unmanned, he left to take a stand.
Traveling over rough waters, the island soon came into sight,
Ominous and foreboding,
Laughing and goading,
Taunting the man who came alone to the point of extreme fright,
Fright that left him on verge of turning around in flight.
But something stronger kept him going, moving into the unknown,
More than emotion,
Stronger than a potion,
A feeling that could only be described as a connection about to be sown,
A connection sown that would be grown.
Sailing up to the great barrier of fog, the man reached out his hand,
He touched the mist,
It burned and hissed,
Withdrawing to create a path for him to travel to reach the heart of the land,
A path to the land on which he was determined to stand.
Bypassing the teeth and other defenses, he soon landed on the coarse sand of the beach,
Stepping onto the soil,
He was left in turmoil,
Staring at the coast surrounding him that was destroyed, his mouth opened without speech,
Without speech, yet off in the distance he saw a great beauty just out of reach.
A bright and glorious light was burning off in the distance, on top of a hill,
It was a giant town,
Stretching all the way down,
Down to the place not too far from where he was standing, standing still,
Standing still, for off in the distance were soldiers guarding the path up the hill.
Anxious, yet confident, he strode up to meet them, and they to him,
It was their great blunder,
For he put them six feet under,
With a sword in his mouth, sharpened with time, he carved them up nice and trim,
Nice and trim, they were thrown into the churning sea for a final swim.
Walking up the path, the town became clearer, and all around there was a wall,
So grand and thick,
Made of mortar and brick,
It extended around the entire city, its top touched the sky, it was so tall,
So tall and sturdy that there wasn’t even a hole through which one could crawl.
As he stood staring in awe at the grand and towering wall, he felt a pulling at his heart,
A gentle tug,
Nice and snug,
Drawing him ever closer to the cold hard brick, lifting his arms and making him start,
Start pushing against the wall to see who was tugging at his heart.
His muscles pulled taut as he pushed, and on the other side, he knew someone was supporting,
An intense feeling in his soul,
Finding them was his goal,
Finding the one whose hand was on his heart, helping him destroy the wall, exhorting,
Exhorting him to carry on and destroy the defenses put up, instead of thwarting.
After several hours of pushing, the wall gave way under the strain,
It cracked and crumbled,
It fell and tumbled,
From its lofty grandeur it fell in a downpour of brick rain,
A brick rain that was the last of the awe inspiring bane.
The man ran up to the light on the hill where he knew he would find what he was looking for,
Off into the distance,
With great persistence,
He ran to the top of the hill where there was a great radiance, and knew he needn’t look anymore,
He needn’t look anymore for there in front of him was a treasure making him rich instead of poor.
This treasure was a woman so beautiful and full of grace that he cried,
Drawing her into his arms,
Protecting her from harm,
And through all of the difficulties that the world threw at them and tried,
Tried so hard to tear them apart, he never left her side.