it was over my head.

Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires.

- William Shakespeare, MacBeth

----------------

The ruler of the empire,
watching over the citizens,
trying to make peace,
trying to make it a better place.
Fatigued the ruler was,
but determined,
the will to get things right,
kept the kingdom alive.
There was a close connection
between the citizens
and the ruler
that never disappeared.
The ruler watched the empire
go through wars,
the citizens fighting
for survival.
It was not only the ruling of the ruler
that kept the kingdom going,
it was the citizens,
the structure of everything.
Everything added up,
somehow.
Perhaps the ruler felt it -
the close connection
with the citizens
because of the many wars.
They fought with all their might,
and survived till now,
leaving the ruler proud,
but the ruler was tired.
The kingdom just barely survived,
an epidemic that could have wiped out
every single soul left,
but ultimately they survived.
The ruler was bored,
decided to find places to attack,
decided to give the citizens things to do,
decided to give them something to think about.
Starting a war again,
it backfired as
the citizens began questioning
the ruler's mental state.
What were they fighting for?
What were they fighting about?
The ruler was relentless,
speechless,
unable to understand,
unable to identify.
What was the war for?
What was worth fighting for?
What was worth it?
What was wrong?
Questions rushed into the mind,
the ruler stood helpless in front of the kingdom,
begging for the questions to stop,
begging for the war to stop.
It was enough,
there wasn't a need for all the war,
there wasn't a need for all the questions,
there wasn't a need for all that.
The ruler stood in front of the kingdom,
gathered every citizen,
took a gun and pointed it to the temple,
and pulled the trigger.
The citizens stood dumbfounded,
confused at the action,
confused at the ruler's decision -
for there was nothing worth dying for.
There was no war,
there were no questions,
there was nothing at unrest,
everything was at peace.
The wars were created in the mind;
the mind of the ruler
who did not have the strength
to snap out of it.
Weakness it was,
apparently,
the ruler had nothing else
but weakness.
A fair statement?
A trait worth dying for?
Was that what the ruler
would be remembered for?
The citizens picked up their paint brushes,
painted every wall black,
painted every door black,
painted every flag black.
Everything could be painted black,
no ill words were spoken of the ruler,
the kingdom closed up,
grew vines all over the outside.
While they tried to conceal sadness,
while they tried to conceal anger,
while they tried to conceal feelings,
their hearts were already black.
The kingdom was the darkest it could ever be;
there would never be light again,
there would be nothing to fight for anymore,
the ruler was dead.

----------------

M.

i know nothing at all.