literature

Folly of the Eternal

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Literature Text

ÿþ<u>Folly of the Eternal:</u>

Ever has poor mankind struggled 'gainst Time,
Tried to dodge his sickle and duck his scythe,
To be cut down in the final moment,
By Death's eerie prescence, cold-reverent.
It's just a fact, you see, that we fear Death
At the last time we see, and at our last breath.
The idea of the Reaper fills us with fear,
And for good reason; he ends all we hold dear.

So it is that some men, with utterly crazed longing,
Crave immortality, or want their life prolonging,
For the simple fact that they are scared to die,
And meet at last Death and play dice with Time.
But I ask you, what to do if you live forever?
You could do anything, and it would end... never,
All the knowledge in the world would be yours for the taking,
And you'd have eternity for games, scheming and playing.
But what then? Why, you'd get rich! Make a fortune!
Work the stocks, just like your old daddy taught you!
Sure enough, you're just rolling in cash soon,
But what do you do now, with more thread on Life's loom?
It's getting hard now, is it not?
All the Time in the world, in case you forgot,
But nothing to do with it and nowhere to go,
But at least you are free of Death, your eternal foe.

Years blend into centuries, and yet you live on,
Empires rise and fall, but still you aren't gone,
Trudging through the desert that once was called Earth,
Alone and hopeless and eternally cursed,
You see one day a figure, a speck in the distance,
And you hasten towards him despite your bones' resistance,
Drawing closer you call out, "Who are you?", you said,
Noticing, he turns, and his gaze stops you dead.
A skull regards you, a scythe on his spine,
"I am Death, and I come for what is mine."

The truth then hits you, you never really escaped,
Time just let you go, to wander through his Gates.
He had been watching, laughing forever,
Until at the last, he pulls tight the tether.
Your punishment, you see, had always been your life,
Endless and tortured, wrack-ruined by strife.

My entry to that poetry competition a while back. Reading it again, I can see why I didn't get far (not even past round one). The rhyme scheme is too vanilla, the iambic pentameter doesn't last long enough and some of the lines seem like I was desperate to make it rhyme (which I was hahah). Oh well, I hope you people can enjoy it.

As ever, feedback is much appreciated!
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