The Happy Youth

He was young, he was foolish,
he thought the world was his.
He thought that he could party
for a hundred centuries.
He laughed, he played,
he loved the women long,
he danced until the morning,
singing his carefree song.

He took no heed of danger,
he laughed into its face,
he did not see them coming,
till he fell into disgrace.
They stripped him of his raiment,
and took away his name,
they nailed a number to his head
and revelled in his shame.

In the galleys of the slaves
a bitter life he learned,
with the outcasts of the city,
whose hatred it had earned.
The murderer and the bandit,
for company he kept.
And watched his anger growing,
as the broken ones wept.

He learned to hold his temper,
to hide his thoughts within.
To give the pickpocket a growl,
and the whiphandler a grin.
He looked out across the sea,
remembering half-forgotten land,
and his nerves grew hard as steel
as he tried to understand.

His heart grew cold within him,
his lust for life burned down,
the laugh, the smile, the tousled curls,
lost to matted locks and frown.
No hope, no life no dignity,
no pride left in his name.
Only a back embedded with lashes,
living his life of shame.

And one day, when the Emperor died,
a glorious amnesty!
Slaves chained up for pleasure seeking,
might happily roam free.
and back home to the city,
that once carefree boy did go,
to find solace in a mug of ale
and women he might know.

But the cloud was upon his brow,
no laughter did he find.
The creak of the oar, the crack of the whip,
did echo in his mind.
No peace at sea, no peace on land,
no happiness for he,
the image of a beaten corpse,
flung into the sea.

He sat upon the benches,
in the tavern in the gloom,
a stranger to the dancing,
his head full of the doom,
The twinkle in their eyes,
the youths and maidens bore,
did strike a chord within him,
where had he seen that before?

Alone upon the seashore,
he stared into the foam,
the galleys he cringed in fear of,
the city no longer home.
He shivered in his being,
as he turned towards his path,
and wrapping his cloak around him,
gave a bitter laugh.

I just wanted to say, because I don't think I've said it before, just how important to me each and everyone of you who come here is to me.
I often talk about people important in my life, but I forget to mention some of the obvious ones. All of you.

Thanks.