The Journey

"at Last!" he cried
"You have arrived"
"I thought you'd never come"
his smile belied
the turmoil inside
deeper than can be described

The journey began
as a half drunken plan
boasted and rejoiced
the fact that they said
we were out of our heads
gave credence that indeed we were right

We stayed up for days
studying adventurous ways
to bend the physics of time
a place to begin and a place to win
oh destinations divine

We  studied old tomes
divined lizard bones
yet certainty did evade
we struck out on our own
a cold dusty road
a bleak foreboding feeling

We were walking along
when the object crashed down
a short distance away
we scrambled to see
what could possibly be
lying there in the field

A machine of strange purpose
it turned out to be
but what we just could not say
the occupant was tossed
and his life was lost
out on that cold barren plain

We looked in the hatch
of this very strange catch
surveying a very strange scene
and there on the wall
strangest of all
was a panel displaying this date

With a whoop and a roar
we toasted each other
it was just what we needed to find
a machine that could bend
space and time on their end
Yes! I was going to ride

I strapped myself in
and started twisting the dials
not knowing what I was doing
it started to hum
I looked at my chum
my grin I was unable to hide

I reached for the dial
and gave it a swift turn
not caring the destined date
the vibration did rise
blurring my eyes
shaking my very senses

A flash and a bang
and at once it all came
to  a lurching halting stop
the vision outside
brought fear to my pride
quickly I switched back the date

Vibrations and dizziness
I sensed once again
as through the veil I passed
to land me back here
white haired from the fear
of a future so distant from here

I leapt from it
that infernal machine
and bade no one go near
it must be destroyed
oh how I cried
smashing it with my bare hands

You ask what I seen
in that futuristic scene
that could blanch the life from my eyes
the horror revealed
would make a man squeal
a tear rolled down my cheek

A desolate plain
was all that remained
of a civilization we had attained
but greed and deceit
routed us in defeat
destroying our very souls

I'll take a step back
and try a new tack
from this day going forth
to lead by example
and not be trampled
standing for what is right