Final Chapter of Darkness Before the Dawn: A Poetic Journey

The Maze of Mirrors

I am trapped within my memoir inside of a room with only walls and no door. I have been locked in this to for ages, chained with the guilt of my actions. I've been in here for so long that I have lost my humanity and learned to cope with my insanity. With strong will, I fight to break the chains. For the millionth time, I tugged on the chain, but this time something peculiar happened: the chains of Death broke off me and fell to the ground. I fall onto the floor and the room turns into a tunnel that I begin following.

The tunnel is dark and vacant, hollow and desolate, and I saw that I walk it alone. For years I have been on my own, but am as lost as I ever been. I follow the tunnel and stumble into a clearing with a crossroads of doors. Which one must I choose? I don't want to choose wrong and so I follow my heart and abandon my mind.

I open one of the doors only to find a path of mirrors creating a maze. I saw my face in every mirror, because each mirror is a piece of me. Each one represents a fragment of my life, from the past to the present, they are all here, that when I see all the pieces they may come together to display who I am. I search for the brightest one. This one must be my future. If love is blind than I must leave my mind astray and follow my heart to face the mirror blindfolded. I held my face to the mirror and saw a vision of my desires, dreams and intuitions. "This must be what I must become to gain my freedom," I thought. But the image reflected into the mirror spoke and said, "It's not what you would become, but who you already are." Baffled, I blurted out, "But how will I do what's right and achieve my goals? I have always been a slave and peasant. All I am is a broken soul." The man replied, "You must use the fires burning within your heart to burn the mirrors of your past. The furnace is hidden deep within your desires and dreams of a brighter day."

I reached into my heart and there it was, balls of fire. I must tread carefully, lest I burn myself and be hurt again. I use the fire to burn the mirrors of my past until the only one left is the one of my future. I walk to the man in the mirror shining with light as he smiles and instructs me, "Spread your wings and fly to freedom. That is the only escape. Only with your future success may you lay down in peace." Then he stepped out of the mirror and we became as one. But it is not what I have become, but who I've always been.

The Maze of Mirrors burns, the atmosphere fills with smoke and the room grows darker. I spread my wings and follow the darkness to reach the light. When the sun rose to break the darkness of the night, I found my Utopia here on earth. Life has been a battle and I have fought for an eternity, or so it seems. In this paradise, the world screams my name and accepts me as a hero of war. They have been waiting so long for me to be heard. So, I fly like an eagle on the wings of success only to find myself and do my best.