A Stolen Life

Still as stone is the river as I crawl closer for a greeting

As if some distant heart had stopped its natural beating

Years together yet you know me little—I must confess

I am a thief, and now a dying one no less

(Please do not let this note cause you too much distress)

To the beautiful city of Falmar I travelled

On a stolen horse I saddled

Falmar, the Jewel of the Mid-North

To its namesake I wished to journey back and forth

(The rich could not keep secret their way of life from us thenceforth)

My love, we lived in happiness, you and I

But poverty was a cage I could never abide by

Though a rich life you could deny

With the city’s jewels I stole, much could we buy

(All would I give to see your angelic eyes before I die)

A chill wind sings around me, stealing me away with its breath

Blood instead of sand in my hourglass of death

Dripping away from the burning hole the arrow made

My love, I was foolish, and I will never see you again, I’m afraid

(Besides, would you wish to spend your life with me, a renegade?)

The sun-kissed island of Dol we might have seen

To the west we might have travelled, and smelled the Flowers of Wintergreen

We might have danced in the forests of the east, magical and pristine

We might have lied on the mountains of the south, searching for stars unseen

(Saddest of all thoughts start with ‘what might have been’)

Look not at the arrow wound, for my heart now is in more pain

I write this note, knowing not if you shall ever obtain

These words written in blood, and smeared with tearstain

Curse these jewels and the life they promised to sustain!

(I can hear the gallop of the City Guard approaching, to verify if I was slain)

I was a thief—that I cannot undo

My life ends for the promise of riches that I did pursue

I realized too late that there is more to life than jewels of value

You knew that all along, but now you cannot come to my rescue

(Empty is my hourglass now, except for my promise: I will always love you)

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