Temptation

Walking on a frozen shore
I thought and thought, more and more,
Thinking on my past and present,
Of my uncontrolled, spiraled descent,
Of my racing heart beneath my chest,
Of nights and nights with none of rest,
When I was strangely interrupted,
My train of thought easily disrupted,
By a feline of an elegant black,
A color the darkness seems to lack,
That echoed a sad sounding cry
And chilled my bones for fear of lie.

My aching soul chose to listen
To that voice that would but glisten,
“Follow me,” it said, it called,
My careful body all but stalled.
Lingering on the echo sent,
My legs, pulling all strength, bent
And walked with the leopard of night,
The night, the sight, ringed with fright.
I was begged ever forward, ever straight,
Holding onto fears of late,
Leading me through the deadly quiet,
Guiding me through the fog despite it.

Why I chose to follow escapes me,
And, though the world scours and scrapes me,
That night changed my life in whole,
Though it took a mournful toll
On the name I like to call my own,
That to which my soul was sewn.
Regardless of the mark it bore,
The sightless marking torn and sore,
Changed have been my thoughts of fear,
Changed has been what I hold dear,
Shudder I will not through the dark,
‘Til the morning cries of lark.