Whispered Promises in an Empty Night
Summary: "This is the tale of a boy and a girl. Their life, their love, their loss. This is the tale of the boy with the tumultuous eyes, the broken girl with the lamenting tears and a whispered promise in an empty night." Free verse poetry.
A/N: This is inspired by Ocean Eyes by DandelionsAndDaydreams. You definitely need to go read it. Hope you enjoy; this is my first attempt at poetry and constructive criticism is appreciated.
Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
This is the story of a boy and a girl.
This is their life, their love, their loss.
This is the story of a broken girl,
A lost boy,
And a whispered promise in an empty night.
This is their tale.
Look.
Can you see the girl?
Yes, that one.
The girl with the sagacious, grey, melancholic eyes.
The girl with the halo of honeyed locks, left wild and unloved.
Yes, the girl with the eyes like dusk and the hair like dawn.
See how she walks?
With the careful, practiced, deliberate steps of someone hiding something.
See how she keeps her eyes downcast on the dusty cracks of the sidewalk.
See how her unwavering stance seems to hide a time, another era,
Where she danced and swayed and laughed.
And see, see how when no one is watching, the walls,
The walls come down, the masks come off and the layers,
The layers she has added, they peel away
To reveal who she truly is.
And how she cries,
Silently.
Just one.
One tear.
One shimmering tear in an empty room.
You might ask, why?
Why is she so melancholic?
Why does she look so withered? So unhappy?
So closed.
Well, if you keep watching, keep listening and keep remembering,
You will see.
Feel the strain of sharp edges of books in a backpack.
Smell the acrid, toxic fumes of the city
And taste, the bitterness of it all.
Listen
Listen to the quiet whispers of her classmates
As they speculate.
Listen to how she ignores them with a steely determination.
Her pen scratching across the bleached, white paper;
One word. Repeatedly.
His name.
She writes on the drained, white, colourless oblivion.
Devoid of beauty.
That is her life.
Listen to her voice.
How she answers a question in class,
Her voice, cracked and dusty, unused.
Desperate to make its way out, to be heard.
Listen to her soft sobs
Choked, watery, gasping,
Keening.
A broken lament in a hidden place.
But remember,
It was not always so.
Take it back and rewind a few years.
Watch carefully.
Watch as the tale unfolds, as it is written
Dark, inky blotches and graceful, curving words;
Words of joy, of passion, of vivacity.
Words, of darkness, of sorrow, of tragedy.
Of death and of fear.
Look
See that boy?
Yes, him.
The one with the tumultuous, blue-green eyes.
Ocean eyes.
Wild, free, passionate; of waves roaring and crashing.
His windblown hair like pools of onyx. Silvery, fragile.
Dark as night.
Watch as he sneaks up on the girl.
Yes, remember her?
The girl with the dawn and the dusk, the shimmering tears and the broken sobs.
Watch how she laughs when he wraps his tanned, corded arms around her waist.
Watch as she throws her head back with a graceful beauty
And laughs, naturally, easily.
Who knew she could laugh like that?
See how happy they look?
Have you seen her that happy before?
They frolic gently in the dancing breeze, in the strawberry plants just up the hill.
They swim, they talk, they smile, they live.
Truly live.
See how, at night, when the sky seeps with shadows and the stars wink down;
Constant and steadfast.
She sneaks out.
Her hair twisted under a Yankees cap.
Oh, where has she gone?
Do not worry, she will be back.
There, see, by the doorway of the grey green, stone cabin.
The weathered wood creaks slightly as she enters
Surreptitiously.
See how she closes the door, how he smiles and draws her in.
See how they lie beside one another
And wonder;
How everything could feel so right?
In that one moment.
One certain moment in fated life.
Can you smell that?
The smell of summer, salt and sweat.
As they lie beside each other, chests rising and falling
In sync.
Can you taste the warm, heavy air?
The scent of syrup, thick, warm and sweet as the summer breeze.
Can you feel the smoothness of the day and the sweat on your arms?
And the sea breeze, tangy, fresh and untamed.
Listen
Listen to the ocean breeze in the rustling fronds.
Listen to the drone of insects and the hum of the air.
Can you hear the whispered conversation of the sky and the sea?
Can you hear the silence?
The silence of the cold night.
Can you hear their breathing;
In and out.
Steady as the tide, high and low.
Like rushing blood and rushing brooks.
Can you hear her stir in her sleep?
Her eyes flicker open as they smile blearily, lovingly at one another.
Did you catch that?
It was easy to miss.
Three little words.
Words of promise, words of passion.
Whispered.
Three little words murmured in a star-studded night.
Do you want to know?
Know what happened that made her so?
Read on but beware.
It is about to get dark.
Dark but light.
Like gentle snow, caressing barren trees.
In the winter.
Look
See darkening sky,
Orange and gold and umber.
Streaks of colour, of light
Reach their long fingers; up, up and up.
Trailing down the greying sky.
See the two figures on the crest of that hill.
The green, rolling hills, tinged with escaped drops of sunlight.
See their silhouettes, steadfast and strong.
And then, suddenly a flash.
A flash of silver and bronze.
A flash of a weapon, drawn with haste.
A flash of a weapon, drawn too late.
And see.
See the boy fall, clutching at his chest
And clutching at her heart.
See his knees hit the ground first and see him lean back
As if to take a nap.
Watch her cry, cry his name.
Let's come closer.
See there, his fluttering eyes and his waxy skin.
Draining of colour, draining of life.
Glassy, sightless eyes.
Pale, wordless lips.
See her tears.
The first time she's really cried.
Ever.
See the clean, gaping pocket in his chest.
See the crusted, crimson paste.
See the trail of velvety redness weeping from his chest,
Seeping, blossoming.
Her tears, weaving, lacing trails in
The red.
A small, red stain on a breathless chest.
Can you feel the pain, the agony, the torment in air?
Smell the scent of saline tears streaking down her face,
Pooling in the grass, delicate
Beads of dew.
And taste the rusty tang of blood.
Salt and rust.
Listen
Can you hear?
The hitch in her breath, the hitch in his.
Listen to the wind's lament, soft, keening billowing wind.
Hear the rustle of leaves, saying goodbye.
Hear the murmured condolences,
The choked farewells.
Hear the acrid, reeking flames
Devour his shroud.
The shimmering blue-green shroud.
And hear the roar of fire, his lover's broken words.
Hear her hopeless words.
Farewell.
A lingering word in a despairing world.
This is the tale of a boy and a girl.
Their life, their love, their loss.
This is the tale of a boy who loved the girl;
The boy with the eyes of the oceans on a storm tossed day.
This is the tale of the girl who loved the boy; the boy who died for her.
The girl with the dusk and the dawn,
The girl who holds in her heart
Forever.
A promise from him.
A promise,
Whispered in an empty night.
