My time, I knew, hath now come

In lonely accomplishment, and crestfallen muse,

I endeavoured to build my mind anew.

To tamper emotion, and temper, and brute,

I sought in Truth, that art known to few.

For knowledge to passion, is as water to flame,

And lust ablaze, puts but the seeker to shame.

These lessons I knew, in earnest since long,

Experience foretold, of those ruined and gone.

Yet for man is to err, as thence proceeds that favour divine,

I heard the priest sing so, “Atone son, and in wisdom, pine!”

The altar was heavy, the heath a growing damp,

Incense belittled the air putrid,

The dark faltered amidst a winnowing lamp.

In servitude I knelt, a solace enraptured,

My being of faithful solemn – a mind in soul captured.

It arose in eagerness now, as my breath laboured in angst,

The sentinel beckoned to me haughtily, calling me in hasty stead,

“Tarry not further, weary traveller, for fortune favours only some…”

In dismal plight I shuddered thus;

My time, I knew, hath now come.

from The Express Tribune Blog http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/29900/my-time-i-knew-hath-now-come/