Mortality: Brenda Arledge Poetry Prompt Response Week 10

Alyssa is an avid reader, writer, and coffee enthusiast. She loves sharing thoughts, ideas, and creative writings with the world.

Another week, another opportunity to let creativity run rampant. Brenda chose life as the word to spark our muses for this round. I kept it in the back of my mind as I went about my daily tasks this week, just waiting for something to speak to me. Oftentimes a flow of words will come randomly and I jot them down in my Notes app. I have quite the collection of phrases and half poems patiently sitting in an orderly queue, awaiting my return. So this week I decided to put them to good use. As I scrolled through, I noticed related ideas or sets of words I thought would work well together. From that collection a new poem was born, my longest to date.

Thank you for this inspiring series, Brenda!

Mortality

Thank you for coming,

won't you sit down?

Lean on in

just a little closer.

Let me tell you a secret:

Betrayal comes in many forms,

Deception is an art.

Little lies

maintain the image

lurking right beneath the surface.

You see,

I've never found myself

on the side of good;

gold, white,

sparkles, and sun.

My talents were found

amidst the sinister shadows,

something about the darkness

invites us in.

Danger is exciting,

an addicting temptation.

Don't you know

it's all a facade?

Beauty and grace

a masquerading illusion,

the oldest trick in the book,

a nourishing poison

the ultimate ecstasy.

Rich land

filled with possibilities

anxiously waiting to be claimed

oh, but who's keeping score?

As the centuries passed

my fire slowly dimmed.

I was left lost and searching

for something I couldn't define

Unspoken Truth.

The problem is

no one understands fragility

we're all running

on borrowed time.

In the end

it's all the same,

from death

springs life.

Deliver me to Salvation

through a path of pain

as the ancient stories foretold.

Oh, but what a shame

it's so easy to disregard

wouldn't it be easier

to just give in?

When it all ends

what remains?

Time is an indifferent god

and there is no life

beyond this place.

Red fades to black

in the blink of an eye,

a sea of shadows

beneath the silvery glow

side by side

yet miles apart

and I know you tried

gave it your all,

but only fools like us

would've ever believed

it could all work out.

Fate sealed the world,

Volition bought our demise.

Isn't it tragic?

© 2021 Alyssa