i speak to the clouds passing eye level
i say i shall free my feet from stones grasp
to join the clouds in freedom
standing upon the sun, the moon, stars, and space
i shall make myself God of all
and the clouds responded with a tale
once a mortal freed his feet
he grew the wings of a swan, lustrous and white
and when he flew to the sun his wings glittered,
then burned upon the suns fire
so he replaced those wings of beauty
turning to wings of a dragon for support on sin
when he stretched his hands to the moon
they froze and disintegrated from his body
in his need he turned to slaws of the coldest ice fed by wicked deeds
as he looked to the stars the mortal was blinded by their beauty
so he gouged out his eyes to avoid the righteous stars through means of empty satisfaction
so he may run from that which he cannot control
finally the space he tried to breath left his lungs empty
open to the most foul vapors of arrogance
i spoke to the clouds my determination to rise to untold heights
the clouds responded with a story a warning
greed leads to injury and evil paths
the clouds fly where they do because it is above naivety but below gluttony
wisdom comes to the people who feed their minds with restraint
this way they don't twist in their favor the teachings that they have obtained.