Warning: this is a
dark introspection. You are hereby warned. That said: this is also
one of my best pieces to date.
----- is the indication of an indent.
-----I have never understood why people fear the darkness so greatly. From early times, the darkness has been my constant, comforting companion. It holds no terror for me, only gentle sanctuary. Do men not find the all-revealing light to be of greater torment? To be on display for all to see, with no shadows to hide within; this is true fear and truer torment.
-----Perhaps it is the fear of the unknown that directs common man to remain in the bright, garish light of daytime. Perhaps the ordinary person takes comfort in the rays of the sun, seeking a way to make themselves known to others and know others in turn.
-----I am no ordinary person.
-----The night, while seeming bleak and cold to some, has always held a mystical appeal for me. The play of moonlight and shadow at night's deepest hour is a sight few ever have the courage to venture from their supposed safety to see.
-----I live for that secret hour.
-----The silent solitude brings a temporary peace to my troubled heart and mind, allows for the emergence of the deepest strains of music dwelling within my soul. Upon the roof of my kingdom I have soundlessly tread many a night, the velvet blackness of a star-studded sky matching the shadow within my heart and mind. There are no longer stars to cast their glow within my soul; I have not hopes nor dreams to light my path. It is strangely easier this way. I am more at ease within the shadow when there is no distracting radiance from within me.
-----I have not always dwelt in darkness.
-----There was once a
radiance within my soul. There was once a brief and shining moment
where the light of love and hope filled my darkly cursed existence.
Such light could not last long, soon drowned by shattered dreams and
profound despair, snuffed out by the wreckage of a heart no longer
willing to delude itself with thoughts of love…
-----So I remain in the
cold comfort of the night, no longer seeking to turn to the dawn, to
belong to the daytime. Once more I wield the extraordinary powers of
darkness and shadow to terrify and protect. Such pathetic creatures,
those ordinary humans frightened by the shifting shadow. Can they not
see the splendor of my depthless darkened world, the wonder of the
night?
-----I find beauty in the darkness.
-----For in the darkness, all men appear the same. In the darkness, I need no mask to hide my features; night itself lends me a cloaking more impenetrable and of greater protection than any mask could ever provide.
-----The darkness is my greatest comfort and my ultimate weapon.
-----The darkness hides me
from the cruelties of the light, from the taunts and jeers of its
shallow inhabitants.
-----The darkness provides
a means of gaining dominion over those who scorn the might of the
nighttime.
-----The
darkness protects.
-----The darkness
terrifies.
-----I know well the night
and well the night knows me.
-----I need no fickle
light.
-----I am the Phantom of
the Opera.