The Reaper's Call

The sky was dark and murky.
Darker than the raven's shadow drew.
As the plagued witch's hour rang on
The heavens were spilled with ebony hue.

The tempest brewed with a deafening uproar.
And the clouds unsheathed their swords.
The Grim Reaper, the moon its sickle
Announcing that opened hath heaven's doors.

A night like this, a thousand times had come,
A thousand more times, the reaper will show
That time and tide shall wait for no man.
Alas! What has to go will go!

Below, the dark waters rippled calmly,
Like a giant cauldron on dying embers.
Neither the tempest, nor the reaper
Could arouse it from its slumber.

Like silver it reflected, two men
Between the heaven and water who stood.
As if suspended in mid-air by a wizard's spell
While the reaper looked impatiently through his hood.

The two men were fighting fiercely
As the traveller prepared to depart.
The other was begging, fighting him to stay
No doubt in his strong heart.

The traveller had seen all that he could
And now, he had to move on.
"Who knows what the next stop would bring,"
He would leave for it, by dawn.

"The next stop is dark and cold.
From where no man has ever come back."
And the clouds roared in approval above
As the white arrows flew through the black.

"It is your fear of failure, I know it is
That's making you forget what's dear.
But 'tis a worthless scum, a yellow coward
Who cannot face his fears."

The traveller showed signs of strain.
As nostalgia sneaked in uninvited.
Saline drops of water became one with the sea,
As he winced with pain and suffering.

He had been through this a thousand times before.
He had sworn, "Never Again!"
But the Wiseman's words had given him hope.
Washing his dilemma, poured down rain.

The Wiseman's reflection disappeared.
The decision had been made, reason had landed.
He looked up at the contemptuous reaper.
Tonight he would go back empty handed.

As he turned around on the suspended bridge
The reaper's aide, a four-wheeler's horn.
And the traveller slipped, plunging head first towards death.
The cauldron, with the stew, boiled on.

The reaper looked down, satisfied.
The water had an ominous glow.
For time and tide shall wait for no man.
Alas! What has to go will go!