Ghost Town
yesterday the sky broke into a million pieces
it crumbled as if made of soft powder
its shriek felt loud and hurt my ears
the ruined sky burnished me brazen
and from the ruins left I saw the dead
rise and walk to me as if they knew not of their death
they whispered damnation in my ear
their breath was nothing if not sheer ice
I wandered alone into a ghost-town
where over the many years dust had gathered
I tried to repent yet found I could not
I saw a spider weave its web and feast
I tried to push aside my iron walls
comforting myself with words that soon fell hollow
against the space inside me where perhaps
a soul had once existed
I saw soon there was nothing to be done
For the town would remain abandoned and walls would stay immovable
I saw the corpse of a child littering the street
with its pure red blood
I moved as if to pick it up and soon
that corpse was in my arms. Upon inspection
I saw the child's head had been beaten in
That was where the blood had come from
I cradled it for a time as if it was still alive
until a white-hot flash resounded through me
As if I had been called I dropped the thing
and left the ghost town
The wind echoed around me and sent
swirls of broken sky my way
I smelled the pungent scent of murder
which alas I recognized and knew too well
I ignored it, and with it the hiss of the dead
condemning my soul to Satan
Ah, but no one could take my soul, I knew
If there was not one to be had
The thought brought a wondering smile
to my lips as i imagined the demn's fury
at being deprived of a soldier's soul,
something surely laden with sin
Yet I was below even a sin-filled soul
I had nothing so pure to my name
Not a soul nor a guardian
for I had relinquished those in favor of the greater good
I did not linger amidst the crumbs of the sky
nor with the resentful dead which crossed my path
I saw no purpose in staying among them
and anyway, I had my own sin-filled Death to return to.
~Meiran Chang