To Thine Own Self Be True

The road less traveled is the one I chose to take
Treacherous while running dodging hiding
Away from crowds and cares and such
Alone with my thoughts
With hunger always half a step away.

Those early days were filled with emptiness
Too painful to recall with certainty
Yet too meaningful to set aside;
They formed a chiseled vision
That has never failed me—
A resolve to never let trinkets
Be my guide
Nor pettiness a virtue;
A determination that I must
Always be the master of my fate
The captain of my soul
Even at the cost of friendships
Or love.

Desires I’ve had a few
That smited but never
Consumed me
To be ever driven
In search of a condition
So intense it could satisfy
A solitary purpose
That my soul so desperately
Needed—
To walk this path to its rightful end
free from greed and false promises
deserving of the right to
proclaim
I came
I saw
And died
But never dined at the table
Of those two imposters.