The Lessons of Death:  Part Two

Street urchins watch from the alley

As opportunity smiles their way

Too poor to pay the fee

At the front door,

They sneak through the back

Which was left ajar by one

Of their privileged friends

With a finger raised to his lips,

The suddenly popular young’un

Ushers his friends through the door

Securing space in the balcony,

They press their grins against

The banister and watch

As the house lights go down

And a curtain, bigger than they’ve

Ever seen, draws open…

Revealing thespians at play

Dark imagery and a crooked plot

Lead to death on the stage

As the children watch, one actor dies

Amidst a round of approval from the audience

The urchins’ little voices drown

In a cluster of “Hoo-rays!” from the crowd

Their tiny hearts pump with excitement

As the clever actor takes his last breath,

Covered in gobs of fake blood

A scene meant to evoke sadness

Has the riffraff clutching their bellies

And rolling in the aisles

Death…is due respect

It is sad…

It is an ending…

It is a beginning…

It comes for everyone…

Yet, the urchins laugh

Death, camouflaged by the heavy,

Burgundy, stage curtain peers up

At the urchins and fixes each

With a meaningful stare

Until their laughter dies on their lips

“I amuse you?” Death whispers

To them in a preternatural voice,

Meant only for the children’s ears

They shake their heads,

Shivering at the sound

Of his voice as it inches

Down their spines

Again, Death speaks,

“A misplaced chuckle may lead me

directly to your door.

Respect my work and live

to see what your futures

hold in store.”

The curtain falls and the applause

Is like the crackling of thunder

The children, still shaken, solemnly

Make their way out of the theater

Careful not to draw attention

They slip out the back door and

Move into the alley

All with thoughtful expressions

Death, now cloaked by shadows

In the alley, extends a hand to each child

They refuse his touch and run out

Into the street, his voice echoing

In their little heads

“Laugh at Death, but remember,

I shall have the last laugh.”

Sheila Roy - August 2006