Instars

They shed their skins of old,
to breathe in the air that
they'd shied for so long,
to lie content in death.
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On a day so dark, lost and forgotten,
that every spark was percieved as the work of god -
a path defined that would lead the ones
who could see the light at the end of the tunnel
to a place so glad, so full of glory,
one could live there forever and more.
But no one could see. Nobody had eyes.
Yet they could see! And they followed their eyes
to the ends of the world and the ends of glory.

Now, the wise and the fearful stayed behind,
for neither could see and neither pretended to.
Deprived of mirth and deprived of anger,
deprived of sorrow, they would stay underground
waiting for the moment their eyes will be opened,
waiting for the time they would sense the stars.
Instars! Instars! They were going to change.
It'll happen in an instant or may take an age.
There was something inside them, and out it came.

Paradise was hot and overflowing life,
the inhabitants, sour and ever-repentant
for having taken the bait all so gladly,
for forsaking peace for eternal glory.
How they wished to go back in time
and enact the play all over again.

Every stage was an innovation,
every instar, an image of faith.
They threw out their fears and false wisdom.
But, for all this change, their essence remained.
Under the starry sky, one new moon night,
crept the instars out of darkness, finally unto light.

They watched dumbstruck as the gods sprouted
from the moist earth beneath their feet;
a flawless army, oozing strength,
kindness and pain buried deep within.
They fell on their knees and started singing hymns
in praise of the almighty that had ditched their kin.

Greeted, they were, by these grim beasts
that struck the land like it was a drum,
clamoured some nonsense and hooted ignorance.
In spite of their disappointment, they were moved to pity
on seeing what had become of their beloved friends.
They had to make a choice and make it soon,
so they revealed their true selves and lied about the truth.

They shed their skins of old and emerged anew.
They breathed in the air and flew in it too.
They'd hid for too long fearing to be hated.
Now, they lie content in death, finally having mated.