MIDNIGHT QUESTIONS

What cruel crime beyond all imagining could I have done before?
What word in hurtful jest was given, what wound was dealt, what sore
And sickly deed, to leave me in this bitter land, sans hope or love
Or well-remembered friend,
Knowing that naught but this haunted emptiness will surround me til the end?

Did I forswear some sacred vow upon which worlds depend?
Fail to succeed, when success alone meant life?
Neglect duty, when duty paid a planetary debt?
Did I destroy a peace, promote a strife?
What was my latent felony, what sin do I forget?

Did I, full-knowing, break a hundred hearts with no regret?
Destroy a people, leaving desolation in my wake?
Did I replace love with hate, or end compassion’s reign??
I do not recall such crimes- what error did I make?
What grievous trespass have I done, to bring me to this pain?

Surely, I have not indulged in such misdeeds as these! Yet,
Yet, if this punishment fits the crime,
What, oh gods of all the worlds,
what crime,
oh, what crime was mine?

© 1989  Eschate