How serene this place once was.
The fireplace that once blazed
with deep vermillion and strokes of crimson
now sits barren, colored with the greying ash
of the embers that once filled that hallowed fissure.

Good times were had here.
What timeless tales of grandeur and gold,
what bracing notes denoting bravery and bold
And what laughs which came full of heart and soul
Arose ‘round the warmth of this sacred hearth.

Alas, the fiery and intense heat of the past
Found itself extinguished
By reality’s cold and enduring embrace.
The past could only stay here, where it lay
surrounding these empty halls and voiceless air.

How I long for those days to return once more.
For the vigor to return to my sinew and bone
And to breathe in the air of dragons and kings
To return to a life of adventure and peril
And restore those days full of glory galore.

Yet, in this place where time stood still
Where light and dark clash on flickering flames
I stand here, in this lasting twilight, and I realize
I can only dance with the shadows that once were
And shall never be again.