Walking Dead Sestina
Did you ever wake to find your dream won't end?
A day like any other ends in death;
I slept, and woke to find your world is gone
And all is lost; my loved ones run away.
The ones that yet remain are just as lost
And I can hear the steps of Those That Walk.
I'm wounded and confused, can barely walk
Away from all that's happened. In the end
I find a man, a friend, who's lost
His wife at the hands of creeping Death;
Hush child, be still. She'll go away
In time. Your mother's long, long gone
But I prevail, my strength returns. Though I've gone
To ground, I've found my gun. If I can walk
I'll run, find your family, find a way
To get them back before the end.
I strike out on my own, through all the death
I'll make your mark. All shall be well
In the city, I thought. If I'd only left well
Enough alone – the army was gone
And no one there to greet me but Death's
Stumbling soldiers on their hungry walk.
Cornered at last, prepared to meet my end
My rescue comes. In a way
I'd hoped for this. Despite it all, I get away
And see my wife! My son! They're well,
And safe. We'll find a way to end
This plague. The men who know have gone
To ground, but I'll go to them, I'll walk
Right in and tell them – no more Death!
The man in his fortress waits for death.
Where have the others gone? "Away."
There's wine and laughter, but Those That Walk
Have won. The sick will not be well
And our world is dead and gone;
The man is ready for the end.
…
The man told me a secret:
"Walk away, but know that Death will have his way before the end"
He is gone away, with our world, but I will fear no evil.