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The Man Who Could Not Die

In the unnamed valley that reeked of death
I met a man who couldn't die.
A hundred decades he had seen, they said,
And still death wasn't kind to him.

I found him weeping as the sun set,
Under a tree younger than him
And when he heard me, he said,
"Another man with a treasure."
The pain in his voice hit me
Harder than the lifeless wind
And I asked, "What treasure
Do you think I carry?"
"Oh no, nothing that sparkles," he said
Trying, and failing, to laugh,
"But your ability to die."
I sat by his side and said
"People fear death
On the other side of this valley,
And eternal life is a fantasy."

He held my hand and said,
"Such a twisted dream perpetuity is;
Can fool even the wisest of the wise.
Things that are deathless
Are the farthest from peace."

I picked a dry leaf and asked,
"Do you feel lonely?
Every thing around you dies.
You see death every day,
Wishing somebody could see yours."
He showed me the barren valley before him
And said, "This is the most beautiful sight.
The sight of death.
The sight that reminds me that
Every thing, good and evil, should end.
One final slumber is law, but I
Am the cursed one, watching every form of life
Around me, finally go to sleep
While I just grow a little more tired
Than I was the previous day.
Tell me, can you listen to a beautiful song
For a thousand years without a break?
My ears yearn for the sound of silence
And I pray to the setting sun
To show me its last artistry in the hued sky
But after every sleep there is always
A new morning...always a new sun...
I am tired of waking up.''

He gave me a twig and said,
''Keep this as a memory of
The unfortunate soul who could
Never break free; and come back,
If you live to see the autumn of your life.
You'll find me here; but be sure
To have made your short life
The song you want it to be;
And you'll sing to me this new song of yours...
You'll sing it to this man
Whose old song never ends."

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