to

to͞o

my body serves me

my body serves me 
to the exact extent that 
i serve my body

if i want to raise 
a new life from old ashes 
i must burn this one

i hope to win but 
hope is not a strategy 
and strategy wins

this vain artifice 
holds me ever hostage to 
my better judgment

i twist as i fall 
and cling to the rumor that 
there is no bottom

i conquer my fear 
by submitting daily to 
its bitter wisdom

how much misery 
derives from evils that will 
never come to pass

a lifetime of light
contributes but a flicker 
to the vasty dark

fight monsters with care 
lest you become the object 
you seek to destroy

what is more lofty 
than for a hundred men to 
march forward to death