A Conversation Between Immortals

“It use to be so beautiful.”
“Nothing lasts forever.”
“But so soon? Was it not only yesterday when life first emerged? Now it has fled. Surely you remember how it was. I miss those times.”
“Those times are over, finished, as it was always meant to be.”
“It makes it no less sorrowful. Life never will return, will it?”
“No. It is gone and what is gone can not return.”
“Then what purpose do we serve here? Why do we remain even after the end?”
“As Passage and Reality we will always remain even after all else is gone. You will continue to age this world and I will make it so just as we always have.”
“But it matters not anymore. No eyes exist to behold you, no senses remain to cherish me. Why continue after all else has ceased?”
“Because it is our lot.”
“So it is you and I for eternity, old friend, nothing more?”
“That is how it was always going to be. It is a fact which will not change.”
“Change. Long have I ...

Title: Idol

I've been dreaming of people I've never met.

Shared intimate moments — both laughter and tears shed.

I wonder if that's how they will remain:

fuzzy figures in the realm where my consciousness escapes.

I know they love, they learn, they wish.

I know their names — yet here's the twist:

to them, I'm a ghost, a ghoul, a myth.

Or perhaps even less —

to them, I don't exist.

I miss the bonds with all the ones I built with hope,

yet as far as I know,

I carry that hope alone.

Customs Ignored

I feel mud in my boots, blood on my face.

I watch my father bark orders. I dare not join him.

I wonder what he thinks has become of me. Maybe he thinks I’m dead.

“Many speak of a young soldier who rallied them when all hope seemed lost. They say that solider is you.”

He’s a stranger, this man beside me. He’s dressed in fine clothes.

“They exaggerate.”

“That so? From what I hear they would have turned tail if not for you, our lines would’ve broken. Our king claims he owes you a debt.”

“Spoken to our king often, have you?”

“Enough. Not nearly as often as you, your highness.”

I freeze at the title, one I left behind, one he shouldn’t know.

“Excuse me?”

“You look like her. Your mother’s death was years ago, it’s been longer still since last I saw her, but I haven’t yet forgotten my own niece.”

An old memory, almost gone. My mother’s brother: young rebellious, better forgotten.

There is no hiding from this wild child, now a...