Upon returning from
the land beyond the horizon,
the man in black -
almost blinded by the light
that he raced towards
because it promised answers
he had sought all his life -
walked upon the golden fields of his home;
however, he found himself unable to find the words
to describe what he had seen while he was away -
but he knew one thing for certain:
life, nor the world, ends when,
nor where, you think it does…
upon returning to the place he used to know
more than anywhere on Earth,
the man in black had to attempt to make himself
remember who he was before
he had untaken the journey he chose to make
after feeling as if his connection with the world
had somehow been lost…
after losing himself within the shadows
that lie behind the curtain of the universe,
beyond the light of a sunset,
the man in black had been taken
to somewhere that seemed to exist beyond
time and space, beyond identity,
and a place of infinity and energy
that was tempting to stay within;
however, after hearing the call
of duty and familiarity,
the man in black chose to return
to the world of chaos and disorder
seemingly the same instant that he had left -
after spending what felt like an eternity
in another reality that was what
he had been searching for all his life.

He had not felt for so long -
not since he had been broken and scarred
by the loss of his father and his hero some years before -
but upon his return from the place
he felt he had to make the decision to go to,
the man in black immediately found himself alone
as the sun shone down upon him
and glistened in the dark glass that covered his eyes
from the light that he had not been used to
for what seemed like forever
but in actuality had only been
a matter of hours, and no more…
he had lost his voice, lost his muse,
lost the inspiration that once brought him
and his artistry to life on multiple occasions,
and he also feared that he had left
something of himself in the other place he had visited -
a place that felt like his version of paradise -
and that was what made him hope and pray
that he had not made the wrong decision
to return to the world he was born into.

The man in black immediately found himself
in a state of shock and despair,
and so much so that he fell to the ground
and called out within his mind for someone
or something to once again give him
a calling and direction to go;
however, the only presence he felt
and the only voice he heard
was that of himself -
perhaps a version of him from
another time or a parallel universe -
and it was him, or they, who told the man in black
to rise to his feet and proceed upon the path before him,
because he was told “he had much still to do”…
the man in black questioned himself,
and the voice that sounded like his own for a moment,
before he stood up and looked ahead
to the horizon before him,
and once again he walked calmly,
confidently, and defiantly towards his future;
however, the man in black now felt
like someone or something else -
as if he had been struck by a moment
of silence and revelation
and it was now clear to him that it did not matter
who he was, because his actions meant more than anything else -
which is why he did not fear feeling
how he felt, and would undoubtedly feel
for the rest of his life:
like he was a stranger, even to himself.