Excellence in Excess

I'm lost once more within the maze

Accosted by my consequence

Years pass by my yet vacant gaze

I'm trapped within this rich pretence

x

I cannot bear to see the blaze

I hide myself, cover my eyes

I cannot face my end of days

My shame can't match my many lies

x

I've fed the shadow-flame too much

It's burning up my firmament

If I cannot forgo my crutch

I'll lose the gift that Heaven sent

x

The inferno consumes my will

It drains my life through my lament

The more and more I let it spill

The more I'm drowning in torment

x

So down and down, around we go

Coasting downhill is never slow

Rock bottom waits to break my fall

It always fates those in the thrall

x

Who find themselves within the grip

Of shady friends when up they slip

His claws and horns, from you they grow

The mirror may reveal your foe

x

The carnal train shall always call

To all lost souls yet stuck in stall

Their selfish ends await them there

The carnal train: a weak man's snare

x

The treasures they promise to share

Are pleasures one ought to beware

Lest one embark upon a trip

The end of which is out to rip

x

The hearts and souls of willing fools

Who thought that they could score some jewels

Without their playing by the rules

For idle hands make shadow tools

x

I slave away wasting my life

Spending each day nurturing strife

I trade my health, my wealth, my time

To demons for a faux sublime

x

I sold my soul, a craven crime

For me, the final bell does chime

If out of hell I cannot climb

Then this may well be my last rhyme

x

I cannot tell which way is up

The demon robs me of all sense

Too much yet overflows my cup

His way is an extravagance

x

Or better yet, a decadence

An overwhelming precedence

Or maybe just a preference

For excess in all excellence

x

A gluttonous Oblivion

He makes a feast out of my fear

To moderns, so quotidian

We medicate when life draws near

x

Of discomfort, we must steer clear

We close our ears so we won't hear

Prophetic words our inner seer

Projects upon the fragile sphere

x

Of self-esteem, the ego's home

We're terrified to read the tome

The one within-which lies the scroll

On which I signed away my soul

x

After that day, the fog swept in

And from then on, concealed my sin

And as I wander through the land

A storm does brew: a storm of sand

x

It wipes away my memory

And drowns out every melody

Erodes all that we've built and planned

Conceals the ground on which we stand

x

It separates us from the world

And isolates one single strand

Which amplifies as round it's whirled

Until it takes you by the hand

x

And shows in no uncertain terms

The lesson that you need to live

The learning that only confirms

That every taking serves to give

x

An opportunity to act

To bring to life the sign you tracked

To weave the magic of the storm

To call forth dawn, all bright and warm

x

This stall has surely reached its peak

Or is it depths of hell I seek?

Today's the day, it's now or not

I must act now or lose the plot

x

I've never yet just truly tried

If I could simply shoot my shot

I'm sure I'd find God on my side

If I could learn to love my lot

x

However much I might have lied

No matter how depraved my soul

God's flames will purify my hide

And forge a diamond out of coal

x

If I'm to be my spirit guide

I must confront my wayward pride

I must commit, I must decide

Must make my anima my bride.