That Beckoning Star

The Siren of fate
  lures you onto the rocks

Her beauty enticing
  while masking what’s not

A shipwreck of horrors
  that’s not what it seems

Luring you onward
  away from your dreams

A phantom discovery
  a fool’s masquerade

Its promising temptress
  an ill mannered charade

And once you discover
  your mortality is near

You flail and you panic
  while sinking in fear

The distance you’ve traveled
  at a liars demand

Weighs heavy as you manage
  one last spoken command

Shouting out to your comrades
   to stay where they are

Searching only within
  —for that beckoning star

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2019)