"Just Children...." by Kate ´The Pirate´ Riley

Just Children…

Once upon a fairytale, there was a city full of light,

Where the shadows gathered, around the heels, of those who longed for life,

Immortal sin slept, rough by day, no more alive at night,

The frozen heart split at the seams, by poor misguided plight.

A man there sat, alone each night, in a seedy back street bar,

Cloaked in darkness, in the corner, with beautiful emerald eyes,

By the light of a single candle, afraid of day, watching from afar,

Year after year, people he longed for, passing by this kind soul in disguise.

He gave them names, and listened to the tales they had to tell,

Of work and love and life that he was sure he’d never know,

For the love of mystery, he’d given his soul and fell,

One foggy, dizzy December night whilst struggling in the snow.

The kiss, the last kiss, was one of darkness, bound to blood,

Given by one as lonely as he, he found his life was prey,

For two hundred years and a day, he’d hidden in shame beneath his hood,

Stealing his wealth from hospital chambers, to survive the day.

God had left him, he was sure, to rot and decay forever,

Until a change to Fridays act, came unannounced and ditsy,

Strumming a song, of those who should always be together,

A mere slip of a girl, barely present in the room, with guitar and ditty.

At first, she could have been anyone, with her mangled jeans and spurred shoes,

But as she sang, looked up, he fell in love, without the slightest care,

With the Bohemian with striking blue eyes, skin of the palest hue,

Who wore the light in delicate flame, his spirit lifted high into forgotten air.

He watched as always, dared to dream,

Of what it would be like, to kiss, a mortal such as she,

Of how different it could have, should have been,

If only he could remain a man, when they did, and not a hungry beast.

She watched him, with a gentle smile, waved with a flick of her wrist,

Then before he knew it, they were dancing, floating almost in peace,

Didn’t see the people staring, at the two above the dance floor mist,

These two who knew much better now, that their love must soon cease.

They sensed each other’s every secret, laughed it off in the rain,

When the Holy Spirit, touched his skin, it burnt and seared right through,

She who had come to perform this task, one last trial, to numb her sweetheart’s pain,

The night the Angel came to bless, the down trodden, the damned too.

The moon blazed, the sun over the horizon peeping,

She pulled him near, her tears like holy water, burning,

These two old souls, closed their eyes, and learnt to kiss while weeping,

Wrapped their arms around each other, closer to satisfy their yearning.

There was a sudden bright; their lips touched, white light everywhere,

Then lost Daniel fell into the arms of an angel, her wings around them both,

The love they knew could never die, she said, would be strongest anywhere,

A touch, a blessing, a kindly spirit, gave him back his soul to betroth.

And there he stood, in raging sunlight, his eyes now striking blue,

As they had been years ago, but at such a price,

He now stood and stared, she was gone, and feathers all around blew,

He was mortal but now his pain had been multiplied thrice…

Years later, an old man sleeps, soundly the room filled with everyone he loves,

Slips away, happy and not alone, to rest at long, long last,

Returns the child he’d always been, to heaven up above,

Ferried safe to God’s Gates, by a figure from the past.

If not for the girl, he failed to know, the girl from 1928,

She with shaggy long brown hair, the first love he really ever knew,

Died of plague, returned to see, the man who always seemed to wait,

Sweet Ellie at the bar that night, gave him this, her one last miracle,

To see him alive, to remind us all, that love will always conquer all,

No matter who you are, those we loved never ever forget,

How to comfort, love us still, to pick us up when we fall.

Her miracle was one of love, a miracle that we all possess,

His only crime was to forget, to let it go, stay at unrest,

Heaven does not wait, for those who forever stress,

It smiles with those who don’t forget life, or live waiting for death,

This is a lesson for us all, we are as one, all of us,

Just Children.