Once I rode a pony small;
I sat upon my father’s knee.
My mother sang fair lullabies
And placed her warm arms around me.
My father said, “Be strong! Be brave!
And strive to win whate’er you do.”
I scarce remember, just in dreams
That once I was a man like you.

Once my father passed away,
And I ascended to the throne,
My mother said, “Be strong. Be brave,
And make this kingdom now your own.”
I took the sword. I chose the blade
And wielded it to claim my due.
At least it seems thus in my dreams,
When once I was a man like you.

Once a noble came to me
Austere he looked in raiment grand.
Reading the desires of my heart,
He placed the future in my hand.
To me he said, “Fight strong. Fight hard,
This ring shall win what you pursue.”
And when I placed it on my hand,
I ceased to be a man like you.

And now my flesh has turned to ruin,
My fine robes rotting with my skin.
And I with man no more commune
Except my howl upon the wind.
My blade now tears through mortal flesh,
Knowing no man’s blade can undo
The evil that I have become —
I, who was once a man like you.

So when you hear the howling wind,
Recall my voice as fell it falls —
The scream of evil agony,
Remind you of my father’s halls:
The boy I was; the choice I made;
The power I sought; then was seduced.
The evil token on my hand —
Could you refuse it – a man like you?

©2005