Forums → Art, Music, and Writing → Long poem... The tale of Tom Linson by The Demon Poet

make sure you have a lot of time on your hands...


I copied and pasted this from word because I didn't feel like retyping it (which explains all the symbols, along with my other poems)


The Tale of Tom Linson
--
One day, in a town not far from here,
Lived a man that held life dear,
Tom Linson was his name,
The army was his game,
In a time of peace,
He met Erica Kease,
She became his lifeâs love,
He had become one with the dove,
Soon after, he was called to arms,
It might be the last time he was in her arms,
He promised that if he comes back,
He promised to marry her, and love till all fades black,
The war was grueling and long,
They fought against another army turned wrong,
Tom soon became a war hero,
But casualties were far from zero,
He fought with the courage of ten abreast,
Only to die from a stab in the chest,
When he met his cruel fate,
All he could think was her face,
He then saw a white light,
Then all was black as night,
He pleaded and begged, âLet me live,â
But that life, the gods would not give,
He promised to do anything for one chance,
The gods would offer, he replied in advance,
âIâll give you a charm but a curse,
To help yourself, you must help others first,â
He said a phrase,
Tom stared in his gaze,
All faded to black,
Long after, Tom came back,
He did not remember a thing,
Only his name and the king,
âYou must now help anyone in sight,
Help others in their frightful plight,
You have a charm of magic,
But a burden most tragic,
To use these powers, an incantation,
To not accept would be damnation,â
Tom said âgive me these words,
And Iâll help anyone seen or heard,â
âLiving is not hard enough,
Give me my powers, I pray,
Living my life is not hard enough,
Take everything away,â
Tom said the words with might,
Then he was engulfed in light,
The light then faded from inside,
And the power seemed to hide,
Tom looked around aghast,
âThe spell you could not cast,
The powers failed because this place is pure,
But the problems on earth must you cure,
I will now place you on earth,
Remember; speak the phrase to give the powers birth,
He was placed in a great city,
But nothing about it was pretty,
Death, disease, and poverty ran stout,
Bums and whores ran about,
Tom shuddered at the sight,
And said with all his might,
âLiving is not hard enough,
Give me my powers, I pray,
Living my life is not hard enough,
Take everything away,â
The yellow light,
Again shone bright,
The light engulfed the slum,
It engulfed whore and bum,
Soon after, the light faded,
No longer was the area jaded,
All was gone,
Nothing was wrong,
A nice suburb Tom saw,
There were no problems at all,
Tom, then, walked away,
He felt good helping that day,
Later, Tom asked the gods about a home,
âNo, open you shall roam,â
Tom headed back for his love,
Against him, someone did shove,
It was Jack Albright,
He was looking to fight,
He thought tom a fiend,
For stealing Erica, his âqueen,â
Tom simply laughed,
âItâs not my fault, for me she passed,â
Jack, he knew, was in dismay,
And tom began to say,
âLiving is not hard enough,
Give me my powers I pray,
Living my life is not hard enough,
Take everything away,â
The light surrounded Jack,
It froze him, he could not attack,
The light erased Jackâs memory, but not all,
Only Erica he could not recall,
âThis curse is not so bad,â Tom said,
He then rested; from leaves he made a bed,
The next day, he continued home,
âQuickly,â a voice said, âYou must come!â
Tom was drawn in another direction,
From this demon, he had no protection,
âDamnit!â said tom âwhat is this?
This trickery is poorer than piss!â
âThis is the burden of your power,
For lifeâs problems, you must scour,
Against his path, all his strength he was streaming,
âDamn this despicable curse!â he was screaming,
He walked ten miles out of his way,
For another call of dismay,
He stopped at a manâs home,
He sat all alone,
He was without friend or love,
For him, forgot the dove,
He saw another man dressed in black,
He faced the lonerâs back,
He, then, stabbed the loner in the throat,
On his own blood, the loner choked,
Tom gasped at the sight,
âDamned be this awful plight!â
He witnessed the man in dismay,
And Tom began to say,
âLiving is not hard enough,
Give me my powers I pray,
Living my life is not hard enough,
Take everything away,â
Once again, the yellow light beamed,
It did not help the man, it seemed,
Then, he stood and looked about,
The lonerâs blood no longer oozed out,
Tom left before the loner could thank him,
He said âis my damned future this grim?â
He once again started home,
For many days, did he roam,
To fulfill his promise at warâs end,
His mental wounds, he wanted to mend,
He wandered for weeks,
He became meager and weak,
He stole what food he could,
He healed and helped as he should,
No longer did the demon posses him,
For his work made the gods grin,
Eventually, he came upon a great village,
Where everything was pillaged,
He was stricken with anger,
For the village was endangered,
Once again, he said his words,
Which were, by the villagers, heard,
âLiving is not hard enough,
Give me my powers I pray,
Living my life is not hard enough,
Take everything away,
The entire village was swallowed by light,
Tom freed the village from their plight,
The light faded once more,
And everything was as before,
The villagers mistook him for a god,
Which Tom found a but odd,
He was clearly unshaven,
He smelled like a dead raven,
The villagers allowed him to bathe,
New clothes, the villagers gave,
He lived in royalty for days,
One day, a woman took his gaze,
Then, it all came back,
His memories that had faded to black,
This village was where he grew up,
A now grown dog came up to him he knew as a pup,
The woman was Erica,
This was the village of Berithica,
Erica was oblivious, though,
Until a question, tom did throw,
âErica, do you remember my face?â
In her memory, Erica held a trace,
She collapsed into his arms,
She cried into his arms,
âI thought you were dead,
Someone else has filled your bed!â
Before Tom could speak, and his anger could peak,
The ground shook with great force,
And the sound of ten thousand horseâ,
Tom again began with the line,
That now he remembered fine,
âLiving is not hard enough,
Give me my powers I pray,
Living my life is not hard enough,
Take everything away,â
The ground stopped where the quake traversed,
And all the damages were reversed,
Except for a boulder, that fell on Oliver Merika,
This, ironically, was the lover of Erica,
âTom, you have to help him!â
Tom thought not, Oliver took her away from him
He thought for a long time,
But finally came the rhyme,
âLiving is not hard enough,
Give me my powers I pray,
Living my life is not hard enough,
Take everything away,â
Oliver once again breathed air,
But tom did not care,
For all he worked for was wrecked,
So he took a knife to his neck,
His soul was taken from him,
White light engulfed him,
âMy journey,â he thought, âFor nothing,â
âNo, for something,
You left the world a better place,
And evil, without a trace,
And when you are sick and hurting,
Suicide should not be asserting,
Your sacrifice gave hope,
I chose you because I know you will cope,
I will return you back to earth,
And again give your powers birth,
Save people from hell,
With your sacred spell,
Break the bonds of loveâs hold,
To help the sick, hurt, and cold,
And when someone is in dismay,
âTom Linsonâ will they say,
âSave me from hell tonight,â
And you will free them from their plight,
Go, now, save lives,
Against evil, you will strife,â
Tom went back to earth,
And, hope, he gave birth,
He still roams, to this day,
Saving people in dismay,
Saying the famous words,
Which thousands of ears have heard,
âLiving is not hard enough,
Give me my powers I pray,
Living my life is not hard enough,
Take everything away,â
If you are cold, sick, alone,
And to evil you are prone,
Fear not, because Tom will come,
To remove the evil scumb.