Immortality (a poem)
The medicine and the machinery came,
Making immortality
A reality
Within reach
For all.
-
Everyone was healthy
In a heartbeat.
Disease defeated.
Ambulation regained.
Cognition replenished.
Sanity restored.
Youth renewed
And perpetuated.
-
Eden attained.
Eternity’s threshold reached.
But death always lingers.
Like the wind.
Waiting to roll up from nowhere
And make motion
Beyond control.
Enough so the fear
Never fades,
But grows.
Consumes.
-
Before the medicine
And the miracles,
Death crept up for everyone.
All were afraid,
Until they weren’t.
Until they understood.
Until the day
The calm came,
Quieting the calls
For forever,
That echo through
The bleek caves
Of what we want
But can never have.
Closing these caverns
Is critical
For a life that wants to live.
The brave found that day
Well before their chortle.
Now the safe
Never find the calm.
-
When you run
To the dank blackness,
Of ancient dangerous caves,
Believing
You can catch and eco,
All you find
Is a darkness
You are lost in.
-
When the new fear came,
It consumed.
Death was defeated.
In a way.
insulation was made,
But accidents happen.
-
The question rooted
In everyone’s minds,
‘How long can good fortune last?’
Death could be evaded
If you could be elusive.
The fear worsened.
Math dominated.
-
The opportunity
For immortality
Crept like a thief,
Stealing the lives
Of the living.
Singing their daily dirges
For empty moments
Submerged
In the afterbirth
Of an abomination
That makes promises
Time intends to break.
-
BUBBLE WRAP EVERYTHING!
GROW MORE FOOD!
-
You can’t undo a curse like this.
Its suicide.
Who would decide
How long everyone gets?
How long a life should be,
When an option
Is forever?
Democracy?
Do the people choose a death day?
Do the powers that be?
The answer is,
It doesn’t happen.
The fear wins.
Immortality persists
For everyone.
-
Centuries passed.
The streets emptied.
The machines provided.
Risk waited outside.
Inside was safe.
Alone was safe.
Home,
The perfect prison
To suffer forever,
Was safe.
-
Eventually,
Some escaped.
Unlocked their own doors.
Wandered weary
And wild eyed
Into the wilderness
That reclaimed the world
We rejected
When we hid
From our deepest fear.
-
We age and die and suffer here.
We sit by the rivers,
Listening for wisdom
That entertainment
Can’t provide.
We watch the fire
To find the pretty lies
We like to tell ourselves.
The fire is wordless
So our lies never stick.
They only drift away
With the smoke,
Before they become
Identity.
-
This is why we are here,
Child.
Hiding
From the horrors
Of heaven.
Suffering less,
By learning to smile
At the suffering.
Unafraid.
Because we know
We only smile
At ourselves.
-
The immortal have forgotten.
So they suffer more.
Believing victory
Is nothing more
Than another breath.