The Reaper
Midway upon my life's journey,
I found myself consistently tethered to
A pub now known as the Tabbard
There I met the great attorney
Clothed in Burlap Black
The hands protruding
more than skeletally thin
Here I ordered myself a pint
And asked this one of another kin
“He who has been most disliked,
What brings you here?”
And he stared me in the eyes
“Well that's mean,”
His voice was akin to that of Odin
“Like I’m not exactly everyones favorite but,
I’m a necessary part of life.
If I went on strike,
You’d lose your soul,
Or actually you wouldn’t.”
I sat there,
I didn’t think death would be this relaxed.
And thus I asked him
“Then, what’s it like being Death,
Do you have any neat stories?”
“Oh, plenty.
Like this one time,
There were three flemish men,
And they went
To find some treasure,
First some old lady
Tells them they’ll find me under a tree
Anyway, they find the treasure,
One of them goes into town to get some wine
So that they can celebrate, under some tree,
The other two
Plot to kill him,
Do a little 50/50 split
But the other guys has the same idea
So he poisons the wine
When he approaches the tree they stab him
And then drink the wine
So they found me under the tree.”
“Oh, like the pardoner's tale?”
“Never heard of it.”
So we continued, my suspicion lowered
“Oh and that guy,”
He gestured at the heavily scarred man
To whom I have already spoken
“Man over his 5000 year life
He’s given me quite the headache
I’ve tried to kill him so many times
From smallpox to spears,
I’ve tried it all,
But he’s an immortal,
A unique one albeit,
Being human, not divine
But an immortal nonetheless.”
“He’s a jolly old man
If I’m to be the judge of it.”
I said,
“Oh, and this other time,
There was this guy,
He wrote fiction,
Man I swear he could see me,
He just always seemed so depressed,
In all his things someone dies
Or someother terrible
Thing happens to someone.
Anyway
Enough about others,
Do you want to know when you’ll see me once again?”
He asked,
I sat there pondering,
“If I’m to know,
Can I change it?”