Once upon a time ago when men would sail the seas on boats,
Far beyond the sparkling coasts,
Beyond the safety of peaceful homes,
Beyond the sanctity of green mosque domes,
Beyond the reach of lighthouse lights,
Beyond the kings’ divine given rights,
Where nothing is seen but the dark blue deep,
Where men have drowned into eternal sleep,
A group of men had gathered round,
Aboard a ship both sturdy and sound,
Their ears were strained to catch every note,
Every word, every sound that the air could bear to float,
The captain had stood amongst his tired men,
His voice streamed from his heart like a wail from a lion’s den,
“My brothers!” he wailed, he yelled, and he cried,
His voice shook so they could hear the tears in his eyes,
“Ten years ago we left our mothers’ land,
Ten years ago we left a merry band,
Of young men and old assigned a noble task,
To seek a sacred treasure and to bring it straight back,
What was this coveted prize which our people so desired?
Was it gold, was it silver, was it the sacred Greek fire?
My brothers, you all know, it was none of these foolish things,
That is not from where their desires truly spring
No, my dear friends, what they desire is the truth,
Of what is right and what is wrong, what is the proper route,
To live a noble life that’s purged of wicked and evil ways,
To live a life that’s free of everything that brings us shame,
‘Don’t come back until it’s found,’ Our wives did command,
We’ve kept our oath for ten long years but now here I stand,
There comes a time in every quest when one must surely ask,
Are we chasing something real or dancing ghosts in masks?
Is the sacred treasure truly out there to be found?
Perhaps our noble mission has finally run aground,
I tell you In these travels of ours, I have seen several signs,
With my own two eyes, and from these I do opine,
I tell you my friends that our journey is surely over,
I know it is a shock to hear this news so very sober,
But I ask you to consider what I am about to say,
The signs we have witnessed from these many past days,
I say my dear friends:
When not a child can be found, the light of our souls,
Whose innocence and purity has not been duly sold,
Where once there lay a precious heart, guarded, free from sin,
Their guardians have sold their swords and turned their back on them,
Where once there lay a child’s soul, free from vulgar wants,
Their guardians look away while vulgar men do taunt
When the value of a woman is through if her legs are shaved,
Not through how many forgotten souls she sacrificed to save,
From evils and wicked deeds which surely are depraved,
When shame has fled the hearts of men who seek to defile,
The soul of a noble woman who is another man’s child
Do you not see comrades, how men look at their wives?
Nary a glint of respect is found, only lust in their eyes,
When the women of the world decide the value of a man,
Not on if his soul is sparkling clean, but on what is in his pants,
When a husband or a wife decide to sever their joining thread,
Judging not on nobleness, but how they perform in bed,
When happiness replaces morality as the end of human life,
When anxiety over sex and fame replace moral strife,
When men can commit the most heinous deeds, then stand before the world,
Demanding recognition in front of cameras and flags unfurled,
There comes a time in every quest when one must surely ask,
Are we chasing something real or dancing ghosts in masks?
The signs I’ve seen leave us no choice, the answer is quite clear,
This sacred treasure of the legends never was, I fear,
Dancing rabbits, psychic abbots, and dragons made of gold,
Surely are more real than these ancient tales of old,
It’s time for us to burn our ships, our flags and parchment maps,
These valiant sails which fought the winds can finally rest at last,
Our dear friends, our dear wives, our dear little daughters,
You sent us out to fight the fight, but it ended up in slaughter,
Please forgive our failure, our hope is nearly gone,
The sun has finally set in heaven, now it’s hell’s dawn.
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