A journey, with companions

In my life, I have met
a great many thoughts
not all of them friends.
The deceiver, he wears a cloak
of many colors, the shades
and hues of lies. I have
met him too often on the road
and welcomed him inside.
We have talked, he and I.
He brings tales from far away.
The stormcrow, he tells me
of fear on the doorstep
and points to a new terror
in each shadow. In my life
I have served two masters,
and the one who broke my chains
bids me have no more contact
with the weaver of my destruction.
But, my Lord, I met him on the road
as I was following your voice.
To consider his warning
I sat down along the path
and gazed at the ground razed
behind and inside me.
And here, at my lowest point,
his truth is all I can hear.
I remember, distantly, that I woke
at the dawning of the world
in a vast and glorious kingdom,
and, lo, I have faded
out of that mirage,
or into one.