The Tramp

I stand dazed, the swirling dust leaving me in a trance.
The road lay winding down the hill with no end in sight;
Still, the rocks impede my vision and the strain becomes seething.
I'm suffering, the pangs of guilt will forever bother me,
Retribution stares at me in the face and I've nowhere to hide,
I'll have to make one last stand but pragmatism advises otherwise.

The earth beneath me is muddy and the muck reeks of shame;
Contempt's my fellow traveller and forever it shall be,
The ways of the world are for sure fettered to bigotry,
My vows remain unfulfilled and I'm left to rue my failed endeavours.
Overhead, the azure roof's suddenly lost its sparkle,
As much as my withered existence which has forgotten all traces of vivacity.

The past comes flooding back
And the deluge threatens to drown the future;
Here, I cling on to a dinghy of the present.
The waters are dark and deep , abound in treachery and deceit,
So I must steer my ferry to safety,
But the harbours of hope are too few and shrouded from my vision.

The path lay untrodden before me;
And I'll have to grope my way through the all-encompassing darkness.
The perils are hitherto unknown
And there's no beacon of light to guide me.
Adversity is prevalent , but I must endure them all
For my life is a journey with no way-side inns to look forward to.

Morbid sights are to there to behold and shudder at,
Fountains of joy are but rare occurrences .
The clear springs of reason have long dried up
And thirst is an ever-increasing comrade.
I shut out my hazy vision in desperation
But my mind's still entwined in the tentacles of time.