Where Death Was Better .

Seeking fortune, I once wandered alone

Mountains I scaled and fears I raced

Gathers no moss as a rolling stone

The cold I braved and dangers I faced

In pursuit of the fortune I traveled in vain

No one cared for a traveler in pain

Hunger and thirst rendered me insane

I wept at my fate but smiled at my doom

The reason to live was a reason arcane

In search of joy, amidst the worldly gloom

Waited upon as I manumission, awaited as I death

A strange creature I saw and I held my breath

As tall as Pharaoh, eerie he was

Eyes as charcoal, beard like horse mane

Beside me he sat and he had a cause

In one hand he had a magical cane

In another hand I saw a water-skin

The Elixir of Life had washed my sin

That smile of his, creepy and eerie

A shiver it sent down my spine

Was he the Devil, making merry?

The water skin contained forbidden wine

Though debarred it was, it saved my life

Was death better than this futile strife?