Zangetsu

Master

do with me as you will

you say to surpass you, I must defeat you

with swords in our hands, instruments of death and duality, culminations of war and knowledge and mastery, we fight

we fight
we duel
we die

Master

you've taught me a great deal

you've trained me long and hard

you've forced me your knowledge and wisdom

now we must fight

we must fight
we must duel
we must die

Master

the student must surpass the teacher
or die
the teacher's teachings must prevail
or the student must die

we fight
we clash
we wage war
we duel to the death
one of us must die

but death is beyond you
you've mastered death itself
you've mastered LIFE itself
you cannot die
I cannot kill you
I cannot subjugate you
I cannot ever make you kneel
I cannot surpass you in this fight

with each thrust of my sword, you vanish from view
leaving your mirage, the ghost of you that I forever chase

with each slash of my sword, you seem of dust and air
leaving your after-image, your phantom of perfection and excellence that I can never hope to reach

all I can do is chase your form, chase your knowledge, forever chase after you

all I can do is block your strikes or dodge them

all I can do is run

all I can do is hide

all I can do is fight

Master

I cannot win

I cannot defeat you

I cannot be you

I cannot surpass you

I cannot take your place

Master

you've subjugated love, enslaved rage, retained joy and its services, keep sadness in your employ, made hate your dog on a chain leash, created a cage for turmoil and chaos, and made peace your plateau to rule over all of them

Master

all that you are master of has ruled me forever

I am the prison sex of my hate

I am the jilted devoided desolate wanderer in the realm of love

I am my chaos

I am my turmoil

I am my outcast

I am my thoughts of self-destruction at the mercy of my heart and its intensity

I am my own wanting to die

I am my own sulfur breath

I am the brimstone that awaits me in eternity

Master

you have mastered these things

you are beyond man
you are beyond even a god
you are my master, THE master

Master

with the phantom darkness of my chaos and hate threatening to consume me with a bone pale countenance and black grin
I breathe it out like a cool breeze

I let it all go

I look inside

I find my center

my own plateau

my mountain top

my peak, my cool crisp air, my peace

my highest place where I can subjugate every piece of my heart

my zone of domination, where I can enslave everything that ever threatened to destroy me using little more than the force of my own will

I see it all

I feel the sword of my mind block each strike without any thought

I feel it all

I feel each strike, I feel it before it happens

I feel them all before they happen

I feel time

I feel the future

I feel the world untouched by time

I feel the sight

I feel darkness, death, and destruction do my bidding

I feel hatred, anger, sorrow, loneliness, and despair await my commands, for they now must obey me

I feel my sword, my mind's eye and all its razor wit and deduction and intellect, clockwork and gears, a scalpel of life's surgery, an Excalibur of eternity

I feel it's pulsing burning aura singe the very air around it

I feel it slice, I feel it slash, I feel it parry, I feel it land

I feel it break your sword, Master...