My epic poem

[Nightlight]

My poetry tends to get a bit 'Doctor Seuss on crack'. And this one is by no means finished... but here we go. Feedback appreciated!

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CASI MUERTE

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Death comes unexpectedly, it comes to everyone
It’s never thought of fondly and it’s not considered fun
But dying often brings new life, in places people dread:
Tierra de los Muertos, or to some, ‘Land of the Dead’.

The reapers, they take on the task of acting as a guide
The good, the bad, the ugly, they must take it all in stride.
While Death himself controls it all, it’s much too big, you see.
So he’s opened corporate offices, they’re called the DOD.

Death is always punctual, a fair but boney man
A big fan of the garden tools, a scythe held in his hand
He shuffled through his paperwork, and checked his list ‘to do’
‘One soul to claim today,’ it read. ‘A man named Number Two’

Death comes unexpectedly, and this is just the case
Came through the door with extra flair and special style and grace.
He stood there in black flowing gowns, a large scythe in his hand
He nodded straight at Number Two, an action clearly planned.

‘Hello to you, dear Number Two, your time has come,’ he said.
‘Your last breath drawn, your last card played, you’ll soon be very dead.’
Though Number Two protested this, Death just ignored it all.
The sands of time were running out, and death had heard the call.

Two found time to interject ‘This can’t be right,’ said he.
‘I’m Number Two, I’m needed here, this death it can’t be me!
And how is it that I am dead? I don’t think it makes sense!
I haven’t yet been killed, you git, you must think that I’m dense!’

Death waved a boney finger, and he gave a creepy smile.
‘You're not dead, you’re ‘near death’, your death happens in a while.
Although it seems me being here might be a bad idea
Your second chance, your life and death, is in my hands, I fear’

‘I put to you, dear Number Two, a question I must ask
If I gave you a second chance, would you rise to the task?
For you are now on borrowed time, you’ve reached the end of days
Your only chance to live your life is if you change your ways’

[Miss Shark]

All that I could do was laugh through the whole middle part thinking of nothing else than a little red Thing Two with wild blue hair. All that aside, I rather liked it.

Came through the door with extra flair and special style and grace.

Very nice

[sway2sway]

ha ha, that's great. I especially like verse 2 & 3. Looking forward to the next installment.

[Nightlight]

Did someone say 'next installment'?

/me rolls up sleeves

Okay, let's see where this is going...

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Number Two considered this but Death had made the call
A yellow swirley portal thing had opened on the wall.
‘We journey now to far off lands, through distant time and space
I think you’ll find a Number Two exists in any place.’

The portal quickly took them to a far off distant land.
A pyramid rose high and grand above the burning sand.
And deep within the catacombs a man painted for work:
‘Be wary all ye trespassers, for ye be stupid jerks’

‘You see this man, this Number Two, he has a task,’ said Death.
‘He paints the curses and the prayers to Horus, Ra, and Seth.
And as his destiny dictates, a villain he assists
His life has purpose, yours does not, a fact you may have missed’

‘He paints, so what?’ said Number Two. ‘That hardly can impress.
He does an evil bidding here and there, and paints a mess
I see his life, I’m not jealous, I think I’d rather mine
So open up a swirley thing and take me to my time!’

[sway2sway]

very nice, I am diggin' the flowit of you, mistah poet.

(reminds me of the book by Tom robbins I just finished, 'fierce invalids from hot climates'. They talk a lot in it about a prophecy of Fatima, in which information which will enlighten/endarken/salvate (is that a word, not salivate, but a derivative of salvation?) the world will come from a pyramid.

[Nightlight]

Death's gesture was dramatic (and not needed, this is true)
It opened up a portal, bright and swirley, coloured blue
'If you think I am giving up, you clearly are mistaken:
Through here you'll find another Two who's path you could have taken.'

'Here we find a henchman who has power in his hand
For you can see this Number Two is Beazley's right hand man
He does his evil biddings, he kidnaps, bribes and steals
In fact, as far as henchmen go, he has the better deal'

‘Now this is much more like it!’ Number Two said, sitting back
‘I like this realm, the last one I got sand all up my crack!
But spiffy suits, a comfy chair, with this life I could live!’
‘There’s no denying that,’ said Death, ‘but it’s not mine to give.’

The portals all, in their own time, showed Number Two his fate
The other lives he could have lived were there to contemplate
Through all these different glimpses, Death was just a constant guide.
They watched the lives of other Number Twos, stood side by side.

‘You have to try and understand, I really must insist
You need a revelation for your life to still exist
In all the places we have been, we see a Number Two
And all of them, they have a life, except of course for you.’

[sway2sway]

ooohh, i'm on pins & needles (seriously, very good)

[Nightlight]

Until they finally reached a realm of dark and danky gloom
An alley filled with debris made the place look like a tomb
And lying near a dumpster, little chance of being waken
There lay another Number Two whose path he could have taken

But a bottle of vodka still lodged in his hand
Showed that this Number Two would soon run out of sand
And
Be
Dead
Wordlessly, Death took his soul

‘That was pretty heavy,’ Number Two said in great awe.
He looked at where a living Two had once lain on the floor.
Death dusted off his hands and said ‘Well now I hope you see.
‘You want to live, I want to help, you need to work with me.’

Number Two said nothing as this all went through his head.
The secret lives of other hims could stop him being dead
‘Hey hey, you’re right!’ said Number Two. ‘Hard to believe, but true!’
I need an evil master… and who’s eviler…than you?’

Death found this hard to understand, but Number Two explained
‘You’re Death, you end life everywhere, you’re evil and insane!
Every other Two we’ve seen, a villain they assist
And there’s no villain beyond you, a fact you may have missed.’

Death hated this idea, and felt a shiver up his spine
He didn’t want to be the one to pay for someone’s crime
‘I think I’ll let you off for now, we’ll say you’ve paid your due.
For I can think of nothing worse than spend all time with you!’

Number Two soon found himself in his own normal life
And Death also returned to his (or lack of, if you like)
And even though he’d never lived, or never breathed a breath
Death felt he had escaped a fate that was far worse than death.

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Done. :)

[lietuvaite]

i like reading your poetry, too.

[sway2sway]

applause..........that was great. thanks for sharing it.

[Miss Shark]

Snap snap snap. I like the way you make the reaper seem so dapper. I can just see him swaggering about. Why not, he's the baddest.

[Nightlight]

No he's not. He's a nice guy, he just has a bad publicity agent. :)

[Miss Shark]

Oh I know I'm meant baddest in the best of ways. Wink wink.