Skip to main content

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."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Time Machine

As I face the small time machine And the wires cuddling each other Like sinners in love, I find my answer. 'Go back and save yourself', they say; 'Go back and this time get your girl' 'You can undo your bicycle accident' 'Why don't you edit your career now?' 'You can correct every error you've ever made' 'You now know what you shouldn't have done' 'Why don't you stop yourself from going To that coffee shop on the 18th of May?' 'Go back and post that letter a little earlier' 'Don't forget to slap that sick professor' 'Go back and tell your friend the truth About her husband, without any fear' They all want me to erase All the wrong footprints on The sands of time, and they want To have a better life, A corrected, proofread life, Using my little machine; But will I be the same person Once my mistakes get undone? I press the key, turn the dial And find myself befo...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Story Of a Storyteller

"Once upon a time", began the blind old man "There was a sea as endless as time; and It reeked of stories of survival and death, But none could wait to watch the waves break. A sailor lived once, I don't remember his name, Whose skills did put the others' to shame; He'd conquer the sea, they would all shout And the sky would rumble at the scream so loud; That day, and the ones that had shone brighter Will be drawn by a kid and poetised by a writer- A hundred years from now, just a hundred wee years." "One fateful night, the storm wanted to play With the one little boat that struggled to stay Afloat; and the sailor heard his name loud and clear Shooting back from the hungry waves far and near. He kissed his oar, for the last time he could see, And closed his eyes to embrace the open sea. He was found a day later, on a plank, alive, But the rest of the boat was gone, like life. The sailor searched for her, from daybreak till night...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Exoneration of Heidi Schäfer

In the shadows of a dead city she stood And waited for the sun to go down. Heidi had been a daughter, a wife, a mother, But never Heidi. She watched the remnants of a long forgotten song Lancing towards her from the medallion above And her heart looked for the listener; The one who had listened to all her prayers. "Now that my road has come to its end, Show me where I can wash these stains Off my broken skin," Heidi whispered When she found the listener, Playing his flute under an ageless tree. "You've come a long way, Heidi," he said, "You were too cautious not to fall, Which made you forget that you could fly." Heidi watched the hills falling in love with The abstrusity in the melodies he wove And said, "The hills look like a dream." "Yes, but a dream you chose to bury, Under the weight of your sins," he said. "You have been all, Heidi - You have been a seed, a plant and a tree But you never danced wit...
2 comments
Read more