Perambulant Preamble

Revised work; Dramatic Monologue format

It's been near a decade and twentyfold that amount in miles
that I've traveled in search of that which I once thought was lost, pilfered by the sands of time.
This corpial representation which had apparently found fellowship with physical seperation personified.
The latter subsequently and hastily dawning the mantle,
That of the other antagonist in the narrative that is my life.
These sands that buried my love along with the often belittling,
constantly mocking,
departure that is estrangement, have plagued my path with indecipherable forks
leading me nowhere but astray. However,
I was resolute in my travels, blatantly defiant
of these trials and their solidarity in disparity.

You look older than I remember but it suits you well.
Why don't be modest; no lines of anger frame your newly bespectacled gaze,
no channels made ready for the floods of heartbreak,
but neither the long parentheses that accentuate a smile,
the survivor of many boisterous, gay and haughty bellows.
Truly you were to end up one so devoid of passion;
handsome as you may sit, your face a clean slate bereft of any memories to be seen.
What about myself? These scars; tintinabulous against my weary features,
those of which you hold under such a scrupulous and surgical gaze.
I carry them proudly for they mark many battles both won and lost,
each one representative of Lovers made foes and opponents laid bare,
whose minds and fleshy forms I learned better than my very own.

Do you think you've faired better in your travels?
What do you know of life? Have you known death?
What of love?
Have you seen hate stalk the shadows set upon you with incisors bare like a jungle cat ready to pounce?
No, no, sir, I have spent many long nights and weeks wages in my years,
tempting Lady luck, so believe me when I say I'm a man of chance and
I'd wager my elephant against your Labrador that your life beset so comfortably in mediocrity
has ne'er been throttled or flayed; wounds left bare, never to thoroughly mend.

Never the less, the years have suited you well, friend, your deep eyes a sea of tranquility.
They are so foreign to me, they nearly coax a simple "what if?".
Never! For lo! Rest your gaze upon me I am a soldier,
resolute and steadfast!
I do not waiver, I am a veteran of many battles!
Nary a thought of your station it's lavish and seductive comforts,
purgatorial in nature would be enough to seduce me from my decided heading.
No temptation no matter how appealing will lead me asunder
for that's where I'd, undoubtedly, meet Appollyn who patiently awaits in sub rosa.
Nothing would be enough to pry me from my scars,
my loves unconditional which were left unreciprocated or
brotherhoods so sacred yet easily cast aside, left to decay on the jungle floor
as if their waste were immaterial. These rotting,
slowly decaying remains are mine, my travels in the flesh and as putrid as they may be,
they will rest only when I rest and only where I rest.
It is good to see you looking so plump and healthy.
The contrast must be astonishing, your profile stark against mine:
emaciated and atrophied by loves that were lived and lives that were loved.

Author's Note

having trouble breaking up into lines, I plan on reading out of Caesar and some other of Shakespeare's Dramatic Monologues for inspiration but would appreciate any advice until then, cheers!