I’ve walked the long corridor Of space and time, Long in tooth, Long in suffering, Longing to break free, No longer bound By the agonizing chains Of this wretched curse Burning inside my veins, No longer parched By an unquenchable thirst, Sated only by the blood Of fallen humanity. Before the Sphinx first crouched Upon this world of strife, Before Babel divided the nations, I clouded the hearts and minds of men, Their souls I filled with sorrow, As I stalked the shadows of the night With blood stained teeth, Sharpened on centuries of corpses And on the bones of newborns Torn from the comfort of their mothers arms Their wailing vanishing with them Into the silence of the night. I fear only the burning light of day, And those few souls, Armed with mere cross and stake, Crude instruments of their faith and calling, Who track me down, Both day and night With a savage relentlessness Equal only to my own. They are the hunters, I am the prey. Always looking over my shoulder, Forever on the run, I pause only to feed, And to rest before the fire. The children of the night, Giving me comfort with their song And watching over me As I gather up the strength To fight another day Just one more day, Should fate bring one along. But I grow so very weary, With the burden of centuries upon me, Haunted by memories of a former life Fading in the mists of time I am lonely. For I too was once an ordinary man, Satisfied with ordinary pleasures of the flesh, And I remember with dim recollection Many things that trouble me I remember a thing called love, That brought with it A peace that passes understanding. I remember the face of one so loved And her love for me And the life we briefly shared Until I was so awfully stricken So now the time has come, To end this sorrowful existence, And find release from the curse That’s been with me for so long. So here I stand, upon this rooftop, Trembling with fear In the cold winter air. With eastward gaze, I await my destruction By the light of encroaching dawn, And my long sought relief As I shuffle off this immortal coil, In a blazing fire of dissolution. The light of the rising sun, My executioner, Shall soon find me, And if only for a moment, As my falling body takes to light, I shall burn as one with the cosmos And embrace with glad heart My long awaited deliverance. But suddenly I hear a raspy voice Rising up to me from the street below. A soiled and tattered figure Shambles out of the shadows. Clutching his bottle of cheap wine in greasy hand With head cocked in bewilderment, He looks up at me Squinting in the glare of the streetlight And slurs: “Hey buddy?” “What the hell ya doing up there?” “You crazy...hic… or sompthin?” “You’re gonna break your neck” “Come on down here and have a nip on me.” My mind sharpens My pulse quickens, And without hesitation I make my descent on leathery wings, Ripping and tearing with joyful abandon. Its over in seconds. With bloodied face I look up to see The first rays of the morning sun Creeping over the horizon. Wincing at the pain, I think to myself “Hell! What difference is just one more day going to make anyway?” Fleeing, I find sanctuary just in time, In the basement of the tattoo parlor On the corner of Fifth and Main. And so it goes. The curse is always with me. Driving my every ambition. Shaping my every desire. With a life all its own, I’m just along for the ride. For I am Vampire. And for me there is no easy way out, No easy way to be free.