100. Tales From the Mortal World
Tales From the Mortal World
I would sit in awe and listen
to ghosts tell the tales
of their lives.
They spoke of sickness but
also of joy.
Fear but also of tenderness.
I once met a man
who travelled the high seas
and fell in love with a siren.
He spoke of the ocean
with such love even though
its waters were what killed him.
But the most heartbreaking stories
came from children
taken long before their time.
One small child told me
that all he got was two thousand
sunrises before he lost his breath.
So this was how they measured
their lives, in the span of sunrises
and moonsets.
There were tales of parents
who lost their children,
and lovers who lost each other.
But a thread ran through all,
and that thread was named love.
When asked if they would
ever want to live again
they all said they would
if only to know love once more.
The Asphodel Fields
and their eternity of spirits
were my education on mortals
but most of all
on love.