From Eros To Thanatos

From Eros To Thanatos

From the sorrows of solitude,
To the comforts of grief,
I stowed away aboard hate's vessel
Seeking malice's great relief.

 

I found no one aboard right then

But I took a look around anyway.
I found an old captain's log
And was curious about what it had to say.

I opened the tattered pages
And saw that it was filled from front to end.
The book was bound with iron hinges,
And glowed fiery red as I began to read.

It told of a young man
Who sought the sorrows of solitude

And the comforts of grief.
Who wound up on hate's vessel
Seeking malice's great relief.

It told of fiery creatures

Who sail this ship to Hell
And of a fiery demon captain
Who uses brimstone to weave his sails.

It told of the captain's treasure,
A chest full of lost souls,
It told of the greed of the captain
And how the chest was one short of being full.

Then I remembered how it told of a young man

Who sought the sorrows of solitude,

Who sought the comforts of grief,
Who stowed away aboard hate's vessel
Seeking malice's great relief.

Then I realized that this book
Was speaking of my life.
A swift panic crashed over me,
A feeling of horror and fright.

As I began to read on
It spoke of the sins of my life,

How I sought sorrow and grief,
How I made hate my strife.

It told of how it is now too late,

Too late to change my fate.

Of how Hell is my destination.

Of how Hell is my final place.
And then I heard the march of demon feet

As they began up the gang plank.

I heard the captain yell "All Aboard!"

And fear ran down my spine
As hate's ship lurched forward.
I knew that it must be time.

I tried to escape through the door
But it was locked with iron bolts
And the handle glowed fiery red.
I noticed an inscription in the wood,

And this is what it said:

 

"Woe to all those who seek the sorrows of solitude,

To all those who seek the comforts of grief,
To all those who stow away aboard hate's vessel,
Seeking malice's great relief.
You never even realized
You are the last soul to be reaped.

You shall fill the last spot in my chest.
I will sail you to your eternity.
For eternity is where you are going,

But Hell is where you'll be."

 

Now I realized my mistakes
But now it is far too late.

Eternity is where I am going,
Hell is my final fate.

 

Then above all else

I heard the fiery captain yell, "Land Ho!"
And I knew it was almost
Time for me to go.

 

I felt the ship slowly stop

And the captain walked through the door.
He was dressed in a fiery chain mail,
And his fiery feet blackened the floor.

He put iron shackles on me,
And he yelled, "It's time to go!"
And he let out an evil laugh
As he dragged me through the door.

He lashed me with his Cat of Nine Tails
Made from brimstone and fiery Hell,

And I cried out as I felt the whip,

As it was burning through my flesh.

 

And then he asked me

If I had any last words

Before I was cast into Hell

And my eternity was served.

I begged for another chance

To find a way to make things right.

But he only laughed at this

As the gates of Hell came into sight.

He turned the key in the lock
And the doors opened with a mighty creak.
He then said, "In, my friend.
Your future looks very bleak."

 

Then as he jerked my chains taught,

Into fiery Hell I went.
Then he closed the doors with a mighty creak
And he locked them again.

I heard him yell as he left:
"Woe to all those who seek

The sorrows of solitude
And the comforts of grief.

Who stow away aboard hate's vessel,

Seeking malice's great relief.

 

Who live their life in fiery hate

And have malice toward their fellow man,

For I will sail to here once more

When I fill my empty chest again."

 

With these words I heard him yell, "All Aboard!"

And I heard the dreadful and eerie roar

As hate's vessel slowly lurched forward.

I heard him crack his whip

And he gave an evil yell

As hate's vessel

Sailed away from Hell.

 

"Woe to those who

Have malice in their heart,

For those who stow away aboard hate's vessel,

For those who love only themselves,
Shall for eternity be set apart."

 

 

©T.A.Rogers
  20030923

 

Author's Note

Unbiased truth.

Reviews

[Misa]

This... is an incredibly amazing write. I enjoyed the sense of repetition, the way you told the story as you went - the message was - as you said - truth, and a lesson we all need to learn, l think. l was a little uncertain about the rhyming scheme - certain things seemed to rhyme but there wasn't a huge pattern to it, but rhyming's not my strong point; as it was, the repeated stanza - chorus l guess you could say - was my absolute favorite part. had a viable strength, and was repeated at just the right points. This is definitely one ofthe best poems l've read in quite some time. Nice job.