Archived: Immortality (Pt 1) by Elizabeth Richards (Senior)

Author: Elizabeth Richards

Email: ericha13@aims.edu

Submission:

What would you do
If you knew you couldn’t die?
What would you do
If you knew your last days
Depended on a god willing to let you go?

They tell you it’s a blessing
To be able to live without fear.
They tell you it’s a blessing,
A gift from some benevolent god,
Like the wings on your back.

You can’t agree,
Because it feels like a curse.
You can’t agree,
Because everyone you’ve loved died
And you’ve been left to your own devices.

The other immortals tell you,
“You’ll be happier with a family.”
The other immortals tell you
To forget your dead son,
But you can’t stop missing him.

Maybe your wings are black
From grief. (you miss him so much)
Maybe your wings are black
From what you’ve done. (You ask him to forgive you)
(The void doesn’t respond.)

Sometimes in the quiet
You can hear his voice.
Sometimes in the quiet
You can hear his laugh,
It drowns out the other voices that scream for blood and vengeance.

It is a curse
To never see him again.
It is a curse
To never hold him again,
Save for in your dreams and nightmares.

You’d give up too
If you’d held him in his last moments.
You’d give up too
If you’d heard him beg for the end
As his blood soaked your clothes and skin.

She still won’t let you go
Says it’s because it won’t help you.
She still won’t let you go
Says it’s because you still have a purpose to fulfill
But maybe it’s because she hates you.

They say it’s out of love,
But love would let you see him again.
They say it’s out of love,
But no one’s loved you,
And death would be the sweetest act of love.

“Fear Death’s angel,”
The rumors go.
“Fear Death’s angel,
Because he’s no longer afraid
Of rejoining his mistress in the afterlife.”