11.
there was a silence
as the last trickles of oil
poured forth from the vat
the old man had given his all
any more words he would offer
would only be veiled repetitions
of what he already said
the young man
swathed within his cocoon of madness
was moved
looking into the eyes of his father
matching sorrow for sorrow
he too began an outpour of oil
into the pool of his father’s emptied confessions
“oh glory of the heavens,
i pray our destinies grant us the boon
of sharing the same final breath
so i may never have to bear
the tragedy of losing you
nor have you suffer the survival
of losing your only son
“my sympathies you have
that i have become
only a semblance of the son you hoped for
cursed with this torture
i did not choose this fate
it bound and imprisoned me
in a cell that has no door
i did not fetter my heart
these chains are the lock of fate
which no locksmith can pick
yet within this prison
you ask me to be frolic with glee
but is the torture chamber
a place for captives to laugh in mirth
this is a sentence of melancholy
and suffering endured
until i be with my beloved
or death takes me to where i can wait for her
“this is why i have no fear of death
its promise of relief inspires my courage
and love, pure love,
purges all cowardice
emaciates all fear
dissolves all caution
and worldly logic
i welcome the sword
like the western horizon does the setting sun
i am a day departed,
an ending late to its own finality
my soul is ravaged
trouble it not by laying any claims to it
its home is now the barren desert
or death
“why retrieve bones scattered
along the expanse of the blowing sands
why resurrect a life
that will only be tortured if it breathes again
my only fulfillment
is in this life’s demise
since this life continues to deny me
her”
❍ ● ❍