Endless Sleep
Prologue
I dream of dreams lost and fragmented.
I dream of a smiling Endymion dead.
I dream of a bloody Selene with charm.
The Morningstar kissed his cheek warm,
The Evenstar caresses the other cheek cold,
For loving a goddess, he has been bold.
A sword in hand she has gripped,
Bloody from the heart she has ripped.
Bloody was her pale white dress,
Bloody was her pale white face.
A teardrop falls where none can hear,
Muted by wind, both cold and clear.
He lies near yet so distant from her back,
His eyes losing light from the attack.
His heart already given to them,
His life forfeit to his lovely maiden.
Shaded by a tree, pierced, hands by his hips,
‘Thank you’, dimmed, was last on his lips.
Tempted his bloody fate, he has,
And a captive of his heart he was.
It was a chance meeting that it took,
To make them at each other look,
With all each other’s full affection,
And part from with equal affliction.
She was a Highborn, a natural goddess.
He was Netherborn, a mortal no less.
To each world, given tireless conflict,
To each world, each heart’s a derelict.
One descending, to flee her divine sorrow,
Wanders the other, to heal a soul so hollow.
Trapped in a dark forest circled by frost,
Each having their clear path lost,
A midpoint in their journey they acquaint,
Each innocent of each other’s account.
They brave the dreary place together,
And find the light holding each other.
They rest at day, and journey at dark
She watches him sleep, and he her lark.
Such was her nature, to flee the sun chariot,
And he was mortal, and Hypnos was a bigot.
They wandered as if in the Elysian,
But the cruel sisters Fate spare no one.
As the time passed, solstice drew close,
‘I love you’ he said, embracing with force.
‘Having shared everything with you,’
‘To part with, I cannot without rue.’
‘My heart has beaten and set aloft,’
‘To your sweet possession, oh so soft.’
To this she whispered to his ears,
‘You know me, dearest of dears,’
‘That what I carry for you is illicit,’
‘And your life shall fully be forfeit.’
‘This I cannot allow to transpire,
‘For I will mourn you, oh so dire.’
A tear fell curtly on his shoulder,
As she tried to continue further.
‘Duty knocks on my heart, heavily,’
“Yet my time with you passed hastily.’
‘I have wished against all hope.’
‘That we be allowed to elope.’
‘But ‘tis a dream, nothing but.’
‘A dream that must be naught.’
At this regard, he broke off,
Merely to look at his beloved oft,
To look with eyes unclouded,
To speak with a heart undefeated.
On her neck, he placed his temple,
To speak with a tone, so ample.
‘I’ve felt this skin with my hands,’
‘With you I’ve travelled the lands,’
‘These eyes beheld your beauty,’
‘This mind, ease with your security.’
‘These ears, were ripened with your wit,’
‘Your scent, my nose remembers every bit.’
‘Your hair, as dark as deep Erebus.’
‘Your eyes, shines just like Phoebus.’
‘Were these memories shared not?’
‘I differ to say what we have is naught.’
He then turns to kiss her pink lips,
Then starts to whisper as the sun dips.
‘With me to Hades, I bring this savor,’
‘As with you, I then ask a final favor.’
He presses their bodies together,
As if to lose her presence forever.
‘If you cannot return with me,’
‘Alone to go back, I cannot be.’
He said as he embraced her, at a loss,
And placed her hand on his xiphos.
‘I will love you until the stars last.’
To this she was tearfully aghast.
Reluctantly, she understood and nodded,
Tears flowing, slowly she proceeded.
She drew the blade far back,
And readied aim for the strike,
All the while kissing as they part,
She sobs and quickly pierces his heart.
At this he staggers and falls down,
On dried leaves he is to drown.
Underneath a great tree he lays,
At which, the Lake Bafa bays.
Mount Latmus was aroused by this,
And made the splashing waves fierce.
Bleeding, cold and dying he spoke,
He addressed her emptily to stoke.
‘Live. In your dreams I shall remain.’
‘Live. With you I shall not be in vain.’
‘I shall sleep, an endless sleep.’
‘My heart you shall forever keep.’
As Atropos’ scissors severed his thread,
‘Thank you…’ was all that he said.
And at that, she retreated slowly,
All, to perform her heavenly duty.
She no longer sobs, sighs, nor quiver,
But tears still line her cheeks as a river.
And that is the true story of Selene,
And of her fair lovely Endymion.
Of two lives joined, one mortal.
Of two lives left, both immortal.
And as I wake up day after day,
……. thank you is all I can say.
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