Mirror of Souls

[Part I - The House of Mirrors]

Listen to the tale I tell

A haunting dream

I know so well

When walking home

Alone one night

My path revealed by candlelight

Ahead I see an open door

With no idea

What's in store

I glance inside

The door to see

A hall of mirrors beckon me

I take a breath

And step inside

A tale of love

And shattered pride

The door slams shut

A start to run

And it seems

My journey has begun

I run and turn

From side to side

With fear and panic

In my eyes

The vastness

Overwhelming me

Mirrors far as

The eye can see

I see myself in every one

I see the things

That I have done

A thousand forms of flattery

The fear soon turns

To haughtiness in me

Different mirrors

Different shapes

My different strengths accentuate

Each mirror has

A name and face

And all reflect me in some way

I look at them to see myself

To judge my life

By someone else

The metaphors within replete

The mirrors are the

People that I meet

Look at the man you see

(In the mirrors)

The things you can be

(In the mirrors)

The glory of me revealed

In the mirror's eye

(The mirror never lies)

The fire in my eyes

(In the mirrors)

The vanity rise

(In the mirrors)

The power of pride comes

Alive in the mirrors

Gazing in the mirrors I behold

All the greatest chapters

Of my story ever told

In the mirrors

The world is turned to gold

At the end of the Hall of Mirrors

I behold a golden door

I imagine all the beauty

The other side must

Hold in store

So I quickly reach out my hand

To enter the next room

In this promised land

I pull the giant door open

To continue my journey

I step inside

But it slams shut behind me

And I'm back outside

The pouring rain welcomes me

Into the arms of the coldest

Blackest night

[Part II - The Stranger in the Storm]

The light of the mirrors

Has faded away

Into distant memory

As the rain keeps coming down

My candle extinguished

I struggle to walk

A path I cannot see

And the rain keeps coming down

The darkness grows

With every step

I could cut it with a knife

As the rain keeps coming down

I can't see a thing

And I've never felt

So alone in all my life

But the rain keeps coming down

Caught in the fury of the storm

(The darkness suffocates)

Body and soul weary and worn

(Another twist of fate)

Never been so afraid before

(The ending of this tale?)

Never should have opened the door

(From euphoria to hell)

I question my fate, my end

To die in this storm

Maybe this was the plan

Back from the day I was born

But in the hall of mirrors

I had felt so high

I cannot walk another

Mile in this flood

So resigned to my fate

I just collapse in the mud

If I cannot go on

I'll just lay down and die

Suddenly a light I see

Shining in the distance

I make my way toward it

With my fading hope reborn

As I draw near

The light is clear

Though the rain beats its resistance

But I press on and pray

This is a shelter from the storm

Advancing now toward the light

I'm quickly moving forward

This hope has given

Me new strength

I thought I'd never know

But I take a step

And fall right back

For the ground's

Gone beneath me

And I behold, illuminated in

The light's warm glow

A dark chasm

A great abyss

A vast expanse

Of nothingness

A pit that has no bottom

As far as the eye can see

It spans the whole horizon

And there is no way across

My lonely heart is shattered

And all hope I had is lost

I'm startled to feel

A hand on my shoulder

I turn to see a shadowed

Figure standing in the rain

But somehow

I'm not afraid of him

Even when he speaks my name

And somehow I can tell

That he means me no harm

Just by the peace that

I see in his eyes

And even though I've never

Even seen him before

It's like he's known me all my life

Why are you crying?

The stranger asks

As I wipe away the tears

I point toward the great abyss

The source of all my fears

I must get across

And get to that light

For it represents

My only hope tonight

But when I saw the chasm

All that hope was lost

I've spent so long

In the dark and the rain

That the sight of the light

Made my heart sing again

But the gulf's so wide

And there's no way across

The stranger smiled

And took my hand

He said: But you are wrong

My friend, you cannot cross the

Gulf yourself, that's true

He led me down toward the edge

And pointed just over the ledge

And said: Behold, I built a

Bridge for you

I cross the bridge

Toward the light

The stranger saved

My life tonight

I turn to try to thank him

But he's gone

A long way to the other side

I'll make my way

Without my guide

No time to waste

For I must carry on

The bright light shines

Forth from behind

A door beyond description

Blood and scratches mark the door

From ages of abuse

I'm confused no more

For above the door

Is a weathered

Old inscription

All who would see reality

Enter the Hall of Truth

And so I do

[Part III - The Truth Revealed]

As I step inside

I can see another mirror

A mirror so bright

That my eyes must turn away

A mirror so high

I start to question all the others

And as I stand there

In the Hall of Truth

My heart can only say

Show me the truth

I don't know what to believe

For the mirrors all showed

Something different to me

And my pride has

Given way to misery

I've spent so long

In the dark and the rain

That the sight of the light

Made my heart sing again

And the stranger built

A bridge across for me

Behold Thyself!

A voice rings out

In paralyzing thunder

It echoes all

Throughout the hall

And sends me to my knees

When the voice calls my name

I'm overcome with fear and wonder

As I slowly start to rise

And face the great mirror

In front of me

When I open my eyes

I have to close them again

But still the image is

Burned into my mind

A face with eyes

As black as night

A terrifying sight

The flesh rotting away

In sickness and decay

It's mangled by disease

I'm unable to breathe

Tell me what manner

Of creature this could be

'Cause it's not me

I run away as fast as

My feet will carry me

Back to the door

Leading into the night

Even the storm that

Almost claimed my life

Was better than this

And so I throw open

The door and see a man

(The figure of a man)

The stranger from

The storm returns again

(To save me once again?)

I see understanding in his eyes

(He's seen this all before)

Maybe he can tell me what

I saw behind that door

Tell me what I saw in the mirror

Before I ran away

Tell me what I saw in the mirror

That face of sickness and decay

Tell me what I saw in the mirror

That left me terrorized

Who was that I saw in the mirror

With the lifeless, blackened eyes?

Was it a demon

From the fiery waves?

Was it the undead

From beyond the grave?

Oh the face that I beheld in the mirror

Left me paralyzed

Won't you tell me what I saw

In the mirror on this night?

The light from the mirror

You saw from afar

The Mirror of Souls shows

All men as they are

You entered the hall and

You asked for the truth

The man that you saw

In the mirror was you

No! Don't show me the truth

'Cause I don't want to believe

What the Mirror of Souls

Has revealed unto me

And the face I saw

Reflected cannot be me

Dying and lost

In the arms of decay

I do not recognize

The face I've seen today

And if you say that's my face

I must disagree

The meaning

Of these things I saw

The mirror is the

Holy eyes of God

The truth unveiled before me

With these words

Of the stranger

The mirrors you saw

In the hall long ago

Were mirrors of lies

Not reflecting the soul

When you look unto others

To see what they see

You see an illusion

Deception, false reality

I have seen my soul in the mirror

And it has broken me

I have seen myself so much clearer

Than I had ever seen

Can't you take away

All this sickness

From my soul and set me free?

You can save me, I believe

And then he said

Arise, my child

Your faith has made

You reconciled

Now gaze into the

Mirror once again

We walked together

Through the door

And I looked in the glass

Once more

But the only one

Reflected back was him

Somehow the only one

In the mirror saw was him

Gazing in the

Mirror of my Soul

Staring at the man

Who took my place

And made me whole

In the Mirror

The Mirror of my Soul