Approaching
by rayn Wednesday, Sep 14 2016, 8:29pm
international / poetry / post

a beast prowls in the shadows
detectable only by lateral vision
like a phantom that disappears
in the shapes of the night
only to return, ambushing
when least expected,
in sleep

chilled to the very core,
bones rattle and sweat
freezes on skin
this thing does not relent

i know its name,
but am not ready to reveal it

it watches and waits
for that vulnerable moment
when it will declare victory
with the utmost dispassion,
as it is not evil, it’s simply
another consequence

how strange it is to engage,
as we are all trained
to attach emotion to everything
and this thing is devoid of all emotion,
malice, revenge, or personal motivation
it is simply the result of too many
factors to detail here
yet it instructs as all experience instructs
and i have learned not to repeat the idiocy
that invited this unwanted guest,
which possess a singular purpose
to end this particular journey
and thrust me into another realm

the very act of encoding it here
ignites a small fire in my body
the warmth of which
repels the mindless attacker
but it will return as it always does
until my weakness opens the door
to my ultimate vulnerability,
death

and yet this ‘end’ issues from me
i am both its progenitor
and reconciler, i must make peace with it
as it has two names, inevitability
and opportunity

everything born must die
tho it is critical to understand
that in life we face only one inevitability,
death,
everything else is a matter of voluntary
and circumstantial choices
choose well when u are able
and remember,
nothing ever ceases, it simply transitions
and it’s preferable to accept the inevitable
consciously than go screaming into the night