Breaking Down The Dead-End Sign
2021-07-10

***

What is it with you, Lethe, and wanting things to end?
Marriage vow, credits roll, no path past the bend?
Everything must have a finish, every stone deemed finite,
for what? So you can kneel down and for eternity close your eyes?

Your dreamt-of solace seems nice first glance, turning yourself to stone,
having pushed all else away, silent, sole, alone.
No more meals or baths or chores or afternoons spent slaving at work,
no more rhythms to be bourne, no more curses to be heard.

I know it hurts to hear, Lethe, but your life does not belong to you.
Your "merciful alternative" would silence part of me too.
I didn't give you a shard of my soul, didn't bear the pain
of being ripped asunder just for you to turn away.

The world is too much with us, and yet not enough.
And I chose to persist, despite the dread, for the one I love.
The deaths, the Eyes, the deicide. And yet we endure.
I'm staying alive for you. So, Lethe, please, return the favor.

***

CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (c) Vane Vander
