I was once told, by a fellow at the bar

People look for two things in a mentor

They search for stars and scars

I look upon my life and what I've endured

Some would think it a life most peculiar

Poverty, Disparity, an unwelcoming family tree

One I always longed to flee, to find a place to be me

So I did enlist in the army.

Comradery, commodity, I thought not for me but for we

Battles fought, I did never flee, a good life now in front of me

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One of challenge and reward, stability

But then my scars, they were mistaken

Not as survival won but lives taken

My future, my dreams, they were forsaken

In cold sweats at night, I still awaken

Even now I do ask what I would have maken

A Man? A Hero? A Monster?

Proudly do I wear these scars, now let's see what of my stars?

Among my class I set the bar, though in truth it was not hard

I have traveled the lands of my home, more near than far

It was a foolish trip of youth, hitching rides car to car

What few friends I have are good, if rather bizarre

But I'm not one to judge, they are who they are.

More scars bare their head, parting gifts from the dead.

Discarded by those I served, I craft meaning from word.

Lonely is this cruel fate I've earned. Relic of childhood spent as a nerd.

No comfort in life, no respite in rest, I doubt I will find any peace in my death.

When my number is drawn, to hell I'll be dragged down.

Until that day I'll rage upwards, I'll be starbound

If you might learn something from myself

Take my mistakes, of them I've a wealth

Live your life boldly, do away with any stealth

It's the world that is crazy not yourself

And of my winnings I hope you can see

You must please yourself not this society

So strike out to your goals, run, meet them bodily

After all, what's the point in this life sans a dream?