The Shadowed Path of Vengeance

My purpose now lies darkened, clouded in grief's shroud  
Where once stood family, companions, now only crowds  
Of strangers pass by, offering platitudes in vain
As inside, a raging tempest continues its reign

Love once anchored my soul to life's fleeting shore  
But those tethers now severed, I'm drifting once more  
Adrift on a sea with no lighthouse beam  
To guide through the turmoil of memories' dream  

Honor was my compass, duty was my call  
But what purpose in living if loved ones fall?  
The future seems featureless, the past but a blur   
As rage and revenge become motivators deter  

Still I carry on breathing, though part of me died   
When cruel blades stole their lives, leaving me flayed inside    
Justice may come in battle as enemies are brought low  
But will such victories fill the chasms of my woe?

Questions persist without answer, a Sisyphysian plight   
As through each coming nightmare I renew my fight   
To findResolution's haven and make wrongs finally right   
Or release in death's sweet slumber my anguished soul's blight

The path forward remains shrouded, its destinations uncharted   
All maps now confounded, each landmark departed  
Only this path of shadows gives direction to tread   
As I seek the justice owed for family murdered and dead.

The blade that stole my loved ones still thirsts for blood replete  
As through these long dark nights I find no rest, no sleep  
Memories haunt like ghostly wraiths emanating pain   
Each face once beloved now mocks in my waking refrain

Duty calls me to carry on though inside all is bleak  
Honor bids me still fight though vengeance may not heal what is leaked    
From cracks in my armor, from wounds in my soul's core    
That weep tears of acid, of torment, and more  

Yet in battle there's purpose, a focus through carnage I find   
To lose myself in the violence and leave griefs far behind   
Each fallen foe slakes vengeance' thirst, if only a drop   
As toward some greater destiny my footsteps do not stop     

What waits at journeys end I cannot yet see     
But still I must march on to whatever may be
 led    Through moonless night and daylight's cruel glow    
 I walk this lonely path with only vengeance to show

Questions have no answers when loved ones are lost   
This journey has no end, its journey no cost is too high   
As long as one breath remains I will still seek and destroy    
To avenge their memories 'til justice is satisfied

The future holds mysteries, what fate may befall  
I face whatever awaits without fear, without gall
For whatever end finds me, I will meet unafraid     
Having honored my duty, my promise been paid

This is the road I have chosen to walk in the dark  
Until light comes, or enemies fall, or Death leaves his mark   
On this weary warrior still fighting, still seeking his due
For a wife and son murdered, in all that they were.

The shadows grow ever darker as vengeance consumes my heart
Rage and hatred now rule me, all else has fallen apart
Where once dwelled honor, compassion, now only a thirst for the kill
Revenge has transformed me, I've become what I feared and I thrill

To inflict the same anguish, the same agony deep
That stole all that mattered, that robbed me of sleep
An eye for an eye, a soul for a soul
As I'll see them all burning in vengeance's cold coal

But whispers inside question this blood-soaked crusade   
Where ends the revenge and where vengeance is paid?    
When all lie defeated, when retribution is through
What then remains but more emptiness, grief to ensue?

Is vengeance the answer or just rage given form?    
Will spilled crimson oceans assuage sorrow's bleak storm?
If in death I find closure, in carnage, release...   
Then why does this void continue to call out increase?

I've traded my humanity, compassion cast out   
Replaced now by hatred, by violence and rout    
Where will this path lead me if not kept in check?   
Into shadow or light, I cannot project

So I'll wage this dark war for as long as I stand   
And pray that when over, I'll understand    
The purpose of loss, and the meaning of tears   
That through paying my debts, some redemption appears

For now in the tempest I've only revenge for guide   
As shadows surround me, whatever may betide   
I'll walk this blade's edge till debts are repaid   
And hope that in peace their memory may stay.