Why? (The Watcher)

Once long ago I thought a thought,
An idea that flashed in my head like a spark:
Look at the cruelty man hath brought,
The hatred that flows out from hearts so dark!

Why do they kill to feel alive?
Why do they wrong others thinking they're right?
Why do they feel empty inside
When they drift off to sleep alone in the night?

Questions unanswered burn at me so!
There was no solution to be found, but I
Decided still that I must know,
So I set out in search of the reason why.

I traveled far to watch and observe;
Ascended to study this creature of "man".
I watched as they made thier planet serve
Their wants, not aware of destruction at hand.

They burned and razed the ground under foot
Until smoke and death made a shroud over sky.
They replaced thier air with blackened soot;
They died choking on dust and wondering why.

I could not bear to observe them thus.
Masters of thier world? Slaves of thier ignorance!
Killing because they thought that they must
Revert to beasts in the heat of circumstance.

I decided then that I would
Search for someone to explain what I saw.
"Surely there must be one who could
Explain this destruction that leaves me in awe?"

...

I found him some time later upon
Snow-covered mountains at the edge of the world.
I followed the sound of ancient songs
To an orange-clad monk with eyes white as pearls.

He lifted his head at my presence,
And then bid me welcome to his humble home.
All around me I felt the essence
Of a younger Earth carved in timeless grey stone.

"Spirit," he asked, "why is it such
That you came all this way across time and space?
I may be blind, but I see much.
Does a burning question draw you to this place?"

I knew then that he was no more
Mortal than I. The cosmos flowed through this ma-
Nay, it was he who gave them form!
He shaped all existence to his will and plan!

First, terror overcame me such,
I began to fear I simply could not speak.
But then I knew I had seen too much
To walk away from the answer I did seek.

"Almighty one, I see you now!
Forgive me," I pleaded, "I saw not the truth."
Upon my knees, I asked him how
He allowed these creatures to live as they do.

The old man smiled at me then laughed
With a kindly chuckle that banished my fears.
"The thing that you must understand
Is it's really not as bad as it appears!"

"Thier bodies may die and decay,
But thier souls are immortal as you and I.
They live thier lives in thier own way,
Upon death they are reborn back into life."

"Every cycle, wisdom is gained
And it hides within them, forever preserved.
Perfect beings cannot be made
But they slowly improve while I watch and observe."