I was so inspired by the game, and some of the other work on this site, that I wanted to write a poem in tribute to Shadow of the Colossus.

One Last Flight

Tyler Flesher

The sand on my face brings me back,
The feeling, so wonderful, revives my spirit,
As I move closer to the surface, I feel the sand slack,
And, oooh the heat, the heat! I can feel it!

I explode from the sand in the fury and might,
That I have stayed in my soul for nearly a century,
I emerge to meet this trespasser and to fight,
To show this traveler my ageless fury.

I break the surface as he gets to the ruins,
The dessert erupts into a storm of chaos,
I sense he came for me, so the surprise is ruined,
I can also feel a profound sense of loss.

This young human has come with a purpose,
He stays firm upon his steed and in his cry,
I know he's here to kill me, I can taste the bloodlust,
But I will not heed! I will NOT DIE!

I show him my might by majestically soaring,
I stretch my body and span my deadly wings,
But I smell no fear through this small boy's mourning,
His hate and blind compassion stings.

I encircle the earth forming my plans,
But this young human must have plans of his own,
He rides fourth, holding arrows in his hands,
I see his eyes and they're cold as stone.

I begin to move faster through the sky,
But his persistence and knowledge keeps him close,
He brings back an arrow and lets it fly,
It doesn't quite hit me but it comes close.

I go to soar a little higher than I am now,
But as I start to move he hits me with an arrow,
Two more times he hits me and I fall like a sow,
I plummet and now my vision begins to narrow.

I catch myself as I get to the golden sand,
I keep my body steady but cannot rise skyward,
I drag my wings because I can't raise them again,
Then I see the boy charge his horse forward.

I try to maneuver away and keep him from me,
He persist and takes advantage of my submerged wings,
He climbs on my back and I can feel him go to one knee,
I know I can shake him so I climb, no matter the stings.

I can now feel the patter of his tiny little feet,
He moves so quickly over my enormous back!
Curious, the determination of this sack of meat,
It's made his heart cold, motionless, and black.

Now he's at the one place that I feared he'd find,
He grabs at my fur and suddenly I feel nauseous pain,
I have never felt the pain of something so sharp inside!
He knows he's hurt me and his passion grows insane!

My body convulses and I start to lose strength again,
I try to fight him off but I cannot bring fourth the energy,
I cannot believe that for centuries I didn't fear any men,
And now this one little boy has put the fear of gods in me!

He now moves to the next spot on my back,
A spot not to unlike the original spot I feared he'd find,
I shake, he falls, I him crawl and then that familiar crack,
And once again I could feel his damn sword inside.

The pain that felt this time though was to much to stand,
So I start to careen my body towards the earth,
It's both one last ditch effort to rid me of this man,
And to rest my body in the place of my birth.

Deep inside the sand I feel myself surge with energy,
I breathe in the revitalizing warmth of the sand,
I also take in the hatred, and pain swarming around me,
And I emerge from the sand in the same brilliance again.

But my hatred turns to confusion as I am shot in the body,
And just as suddenly as before I feel two more arrows,
Once again my plans have turned very rocky,
And I tumble to the ground like a war-torn sparrow.

Before I have time to realize that I had caught spin,
I feel the young boy back at his old deeds,
He crawls over my back to stick his sword in,
I just wish the horrible creature would just leave.

The pain comes once again and as I start to soar,
I must try in some way to rid myself of him,
It's hard to comprehend this man's lust for gore!
He moves again and I want to tear him limb from limb,

But I am so weak now that there's nothing left,
He reaches the last vestige of my ancient body,
Of any compassion this man is completely bereft,
My vision is starting to become very foggy.

The pain comes once again but this time it's welcome,
All I want is for all of this to come to an end,
Commit myself to the void and become one,
With the beings who created me in the midst of the sand.

One last ting of pain surges through my body,
I convulse in one last contraction, a torrent of pain,
I fall to the ground and feel it's warmth on my body,
I actually feel happy this young may came.

The sand on my face brings me back,
The feeling, so wonderful, allows me to free my spirit,
As I sink further into the surface, I feel the sand slack,
And, oooh the heat, the heat! I can feel it!