The Barrens

I have become numb to the pains of life,
I am no longer buried in a gruelling war.
The sadness that once thudded through my bones
Is now but a trifling force.

I am content—
I have laid down my arms
To the heavy burdens I once so desperately fought.
The raging storm
Now drifts across a barren soul.

And thankfully,
That blackened mass of misery,
That plague of sorrow,
That cruel, barbaric, wailing despair—
Thankfully, it does not gnash at me anymore.

At long last
I have become numb to the pains of life;
No longer need I mourn.
But I have become numb to the pains of life,
So I have become numb to the pleasures, too,
The pleasures I once adored.