Fade -- Part 1 (Poem)
By Luke Labern
To borrow time, that's why I came --
I've nowhere to run, no-one to blame...
You're killing and you're hurting,
So with suicide I'm flirting:
It's pitch black, all around me.
I'm begging, I'm crying: just free
The man, how could he have cancer?
I came alone and any sacrifice, for an answer
To how long we all have left...
As right now I'm empty, I'm bereft
Of all the smiles that I deserve --
He's the one who's ill, but it's my nerve
That's truly offended:
From humans I am descended,
And I can't stand and watch this
Slow extraction, before I can even miss
His presence; I have to watch him fade,
After all the memories he and I have made.
Death -- death, answer me, please --
I'm alone and I'm broken, I'm on my knees.
He took such care and pride
In health, so why should you side
With extinction, and pull him away?
What do I have to do, what do I have to say?
Every emotion, I thought, had its place...
So I'll keep my strength, just in case:
But how can I escape tragedy
When death's pagentry
Is so final, so cold, so brutal --
The very end, you wan to mute all
Future events. I want to scream
At what I deem
Ridiculous. But here is the thing,
Which really multiplies that sting:
Life will carry on, without a second's pause.
When one is closed, infinite doors
Open: but behind them lie more memories
With which I take with unrestricted ease,
Only to have my friends and loves
Stolen from me, just like fragile doves
Shot down and ruined, without remorse --
Where can I hide, where can I run? When this course
Of life, it brings me head-first into heartbreak;
Just how can I these tragedies take?
I've nowhere to run, no-one to blame...
You're killing and you're hurting,
So with suicide I'm flirting:
It's pitch black, all around me.
I'm begging, I'm crying: just free
The man, how could he have cancer?
I came alone and any sacrifice, for an answer
To how long we all have left...
As right now I'm empty, I'm bereft
Of all the smiles that I deserve --
He's the one who's ill, but it's my nerve
That's truly offended:
From humans I am descended,
And I can't stand and watch this
Slow extraction, before I can even miss
His presence; I have to watch him fade,
After all the memories he and I have made.
Death -- death, answer me, please --
I'm alone and I'm broken, I'm on my knees.
He took such care and pride
In health, so why should you side
With extinction, and pull him away?
What do I have to do, what do I have to say?
Every emotion, I thought, had its place...
So I'll keep my strength, just in case:
But how can I escape tragedy
When death's pagentry
Is so final, so cold, so brutal --
The very end, you wan to mute all
Future events. I want to scream
At what I deem
Ridiculous. But here is the thing,
Which really multiplies that sting:
Life will carry on, without a second's pause.
When one is closed, infinite doors
Open: but behind them lie more memories
With which I take with unrestricted ease,
Only to have my friends and loves
Stolen from me, just like fragile doves
Shot down and ruined, without remorse --
Where can I hide, where can I run? When this course
Of life, it brings me head-first into heartbreak;
Just how can I these tragedies take?
A Poem,
Published 26 January 2012
Published 26 January 2012