• To Love One's Self

    In my struggle with myself,
    There is no poetry
    In my quest to understand,
    There is vanity
    In my ordeal of decadence,
    There is no beauty
    In my search for transcendence,
    There is mockery

    This countenance I bear,
    This visage that I wear,
    Hides helplessness beyond repair
    A parody of man,
    Claiming greater pain
    Where I grant the world my love,
    I give myself disdain

    Why, then, do I seek glory,
    If man would soon forget?
    For what cause am I exalted,
    If they never comprehend?
    Can wings grant me ascension
    If their plumes will burn to ash?
    Where revelation beckons me
    Will I have the power to oblige?

    This countenance I bear,
    This visage that I wear,
    Is but a mask that cloaks despair
    A parody of man,
    Claiming greater pain
    Where I grant the world my love,
    I give myself disdain

    I will never be a sainted hero,
    For a darkness fills my veins:
    The perversion of my vanity,
    The filth of its refrain

    The causes of my servitude
    Are traced to my ineptitude
    Leaving me ashamed
    Ambition deep inside of me
    Will yield inside to vanity
    Leaves myself to blame…

    My world demands a hero,
    To cast away its chains
    A champion of rectitude
    Who cannot be restrained

    This countenance I bear,
    This visage that I wear
    A pale façade beyond compare
    A parody of man
    Claiming greater pain
    Where I grant the world my love,
    I give myself disdain

    This world, it lacks a hero
    While cities writhe in flames
    Somehow, I hear my calling,
    The message it contains:

    “You can’t afford your servitude
    No room left for ineptitude
    You have no other choice
    Cast away insanity
    Be freed from what was vanity
    In redemption, now, rejoice!”

    This doubtfulness impaired,
    My fortitude repaired,
    Released from dark in which I was ensnared
    Where hate will pressure onwards,
    I will make its efforts vain
    I have learnt to love myself
    And rise above my pain

    I know I am the hero,
    Who shall cast away the chains
    The one to ride on wings of dreams
    And free my world of pain

    I’ll exalt those left to servitude,
    And shatter all ineptitude
    I will cry my heart’s refrain:
    This love that burns inside of me
    Stretches on for all eternity
    I am freed of my disdain