Undying: Poems of Fantasy & Science Fiction is a book of poetry that I've been working on sometimes. When I finish 100 poems or so, I will publish it. My take on it was to tell the stories of as many traditional monsters as I can, but only if I can cast their stories in a new light or at least an unfamiliar one.
What follow is the title poem. It's still a work in progress, but I thought I would share it with you.
Undying
You cannot imagine
the things I have seen,
the loves I have lost.
Empires all fall.
Kings rot into dust.
But I remain.
Shall I tell you of
Alannah’s auburn hair
and pale sweet body?
Or of fiery Elizabeth
who rode white horses
across the verdant moors?
And what of Helene,
witty and bright with
a body made for sin?
A hundred or more Janes,
A multitude of Marys,
A handful of Opals.
I loved them all.
I gave them wonders.
I watched them die.
Love did not save
Renee from plague,
or Teresa from war.
A few learned my secret.
They begged me
for the blood kiss.
I denied their pleas;
humans must burn
bright then die.
Teresa understood.
Ume fled in fear.
Vivian tried to slay me.
Yet I live on,
four thousand years
more or less,
Searching for anything
-- anything at all --
worth dying for.
Empty I travel
until a woman
stirs my passion.
Zola, this is what it means
to love a creature,
untouched by time.
Love me while you live,
and I will still love you
after dust covers your eyes.
Copyright 2014 by Stephen B. Bagley. All rights reserved. No copying without express permission of the author and publisher. From the forthcoming Undying: Poems of Fantasy & Science Fiction. Thank you for reading.
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