Fall From Grace

I’ve heard of men, who’ve had it all,

Of tyrants with the world,

Bowed in reverence to their names,

As their gruesome banners are unfurled.

Predictably, chaos ensues,

Terror, revolution, hate.

And all responsible for this,

Are barred from Heaven’s Gate.

And as I rise to my throne,

Warnings haunt my every move,

And I ignore them blatantly,

Though I know they speak the truth.

I know they say it will not last,

That pow’r I’ll grow to love,

And I will never stop until,

The world is bathed in blood.

And who shall at that day profess,

To ne’er have known the price?

They know it well, as do I:

A tyrant’s life is war by choice.

And yet the years pass slowly on;

I take pride in what I’ve done,

And perchance I think my reign,

Will ne’er see the setting sun.

The hour has come that I might see,

The whole world bowed to my command,

And as I look them in the eyes,

I finally understand.

I came from nothing, built my throne,

On the backs of other men.

With great remorse, I see it now,

My kingdom: worthless even then.

I thought myself so mighty that,

When all my glory came,

I laughed and reveled in it all,

Thinking honor was the same.

But the truth is ever honest,

Constant, plain and clear.

Glory may be obtained with blood,

But honor ne’er with fear.

Magnificent praise on earth,

Cannot claim to save my soul,

My life may have seemed complete,

But my heart is far from whole.

The irony is that I run,

From all I thought I loved.

Coward I seemed not to be,

But that’s all I ever was.

Despair overwhelms what once was great,

And I find I do not care,

Mourning for my life I waste,

And the soul that once was there.

I sit in reflection, ever long,

As they judge my hours less,

And they that I once ruled in life,

Now cry out for my death.

Yet here I sit in cold confines,

With darkness; all I know.

I know not where my life has gone,

Or afterlife will go.

By some small mercy, I’m allowed,

One last look at grace I lost.

She looks at me with saddened eyes;

It was never worth the cost.

I’ll admit that grace and love,

Might well have been enough,

But it is my curse to let them go,

Else destroy them with my touch.

For one like me, devastation seems,

All I can create,

And though I wished another way,

Destruction is my fate.

All that was good was stripped away,

I was alone from infancy,

And so it is a sin to say,

All wrong begins and ends with me.

I loved the power and lust I found,

Repaying hurt that was giv’n.

And for this reason, I stand firm,

And deny not my own great sin.

At the end I will still stand tall,

Absolved of honor, grace.

And still I’ll laugh with pride not lost,

For it’s all I’ve left to claim.

And I’ll be damned if I let them forget,

The life I led and made.

And if I cannot hope for love,

Then I will cling to hate.

Still I might have had less greed and rage,

Instead, I let them grow.

I might have held my tongue and hand,

And let my hatred go.

The streets riot, lusting blood,

As they lead me to my fate,

And I am sure all hope is lost;

I’ll be barred from Heaven’s Gate.

My hands are shaking as I try,

To keep emotions in reserve.

Is it a sin, even now,

To fear the justice I deserve?

I think it not, for now it seems,

Redemption’s too far gone,

For someone in my place who’s done,

This harsh world so much wrong.

And I see now at the end,

If I’d have listened to their voice,

I might have been spared all this hurt,

For a tyrants life is war,

By choice.