Sepia tinted memories,

of days long gone,

Innocence lost in a sea of strange faces,

Echoes of that careless laughter,

wafting through corridors of mind,

Smell of first rainfall on dry, parched earth,

Lungs full of cool air and a heart full of life.

Pale and jaundiced stood the man before his own shadow,

Hands reduced to raven-like claws,

Dry, parched lips, lusting for a few drops of water,

He watched while his kingdom burnt,

to cinders, reduced the glory of man,

Ash to ash and dust to dust!