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Death & the Twisted Tree

Member since 2003 · Posted 10 Dec 2003 · 9 comments

Once death glared at me stooped in a corner- cobwebs encircled his brow; the crown of a vampire. I stared back without blinking; brazened him mirthfully. He smiled then winked before fading into the walls. That day I set sail for the black sea; the waters churned threatening to subvert me. An island in the middle of a storm was my destination, and there I met the tree of time who was a master of rhyme twisted and coiled around illusion. It showed me perpetual roads interconnected, with numerous forks; a path of emotions and realities changing constantly, cycling through innumerous outcomes- it said "Everything that can happen has already- the choice we have is to create from these a path of our own, a fate that sets us free." I told it of death- the end of the road and the tree laughed. "He fades as if only dream- a necessary illusion. A mans reality stagnates and becomes irksome; he must be tricked into thinking he has ended then made anew- so he can feel the magic and beauty of life once again. There is no end to these roads; they are as twisted and coiled as I am." I remember these words from the day my boat sailed the ebony sea; the day I stared death down- life's magic hasn't stagnated since and death doesn't haunt my corner anymore.

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9 comments

[9] kingit 10-Dec-03/7:18 PM Reply

i can see your transcendence is inspiration! lucky I can't remember NOT being surrounded by the big black..

[n/a] SupremeDreamer › kingit 10-Dec-03/8:28 PM Reply

Colors are upto a dreamers suggestion. I can remember few good times- but I can remember a million beatific moments scattered amongst the boil of the black sea.

Its what you choose to see, the ebony- or the beauty. You can be sailing, or you could be flying above it all- just remember: you can't fall or sink unless you believe its possible. (Call it extreme denial? or changing reality, but whats reality but a dream we've accepted?)

[8] darby pyn 10-Dec-03/7:56 PM Reply

it's a nice visual. an epic in black and white.
for some reason I see "night of the hunter" in
my mind when I read this with mitchem as the devil.
very nice. 8

[n/a] SupremeDreamer › darby pyn 10-Dec-03/8:30 PM Reply

Thanks- I just started reading your work, and wish I would have come across it earlier, your not one of those rankers that stand out much eh?

[8] Caducus 12-Dec-03/2:06 PM Reply

Wild - I love it

Good show.

[n/a] Everyone 17-Dec-03/7:35 AM Reply

"a path of emotions and realities"... yes, that describes my own life so beautifully. I also liked the way you used the Tree of Time as a metaphor for the Master of Rhyme. And the way you used Mankind's struggle with Death as a poignant reminder that as human beings, we don't always get the balance between poetry and sheer idiocy right. Thank you.

[n/a] Shardik › Everyone 17-Dec-03/11:58 AM Reply

lol.

[n/a] SupremeDreamer › Everyone 17-Dec-03/12:57 PM Reply

Ohh. I'm devastated.

One: the struggle had nothing to do with mankind, it had to do with ME.

But obviously you missed that while skimming through my writing and cooking up some insulting comment.

And how nice, again you mentioned intelligence- as if calling me a moron a thousand times accomplishes anything.

Fuck mankind. You missed the goddamn point entirely you twit. Why don't you try swinging in the air somewhere else?

[6] Jill Stockinger 2-Jan-21/6:40 PM Reply

You have the tree as a being when you used "who was a master of time" but switched to it being a thing or object in the next stanza, using "it" showed me- these need to match, not contradict.
a man's reality (apostrophe)Really like the lines: There is no end to these roads/ they are as twisted and coiled as I am. Beautiful! The last 2 lines are kind of a let down, I think, with awkward phrasing.