Thursday, June 16, 2011

Hero/Villain


You, my dearest enemy
For you, my kindest foe
You, my sweetest adversary
I mourn the loss of you

How many years will go-
-Before one betrays me, like I have you?

How long will this pestilence ride-
-Before I reach the grave?

Shall you be awaiting my arrival, upon your horse of sable white?

Have the posters been completed, indicating proper price?

You, my dearest rival,
In this grand charade we do
For you, my fondest opponent
The tables have turned in two,

I still weep your passing without reprieve
As long as it has been, the wound still feels fresh to me,
I lay awake some nights, when the tree shakes into the door,
Jump aside the curtains, to see what is in wait outside,

At first I was enraged,
That you had left me alone to fend,
But since I’ve grown mature,
And learned to comprehend

I understand, home is where I’ve you’ve sent you to,
Despite, home being where I’ve stole you from,
Where every blessing can be a curse
Where every curse can be a blessing

Others have come, to haunt my trail,
But their stealth, so loud, each time did fail,
Even when combining effort, their ways could not compare,
Humbled by tricks, so simple, I forget were even there

Where these others foster vigilance,
You took the time to know,
Where these others promoted violence,
You let a connection grow,

Where these others sought the hangman’s noose,
You only wanted what you deemed fair
Where these others aimed to hurt and bruise,
You only operated with respect and care

For you, my dearest enemy,
I admire all, of that you offered,
For you, my sweetest foe,
I do dare address you now,
As my most beloved friend

Time has passed much slower, than when you were on my heels,
Grass has grown much greener, with the wind cut from my sails

The chasing is still endless, but now filled, with logic incomplete,
This, to you, I must confide, I laugh myself, some days to dream,
These men, those in pursuit, the ones that took your place,
They’re sharp with a spreadsheet, but in the hunt, devoid of skill
What, for you, would’ve ate but seconds, for them, devours months,
They sense me in their crosshairs, yet I’m nowhere near their scope

While you were known for a most relentless, manner to your trade,
I remember you much different, never did I feel afraid,
Until the day I walked away, head hung so very low,
Now facing me, was a future, I could not profess to know

While my methods, rarely filled with mercy, was merciful indeed-
-On that night, in that place, when each forces –face to face-
-When it came to you, all you had to do was plead, even the simplest- -Prayer would do, but never, not even once, were you willing to secede
With heavy heart, the pain, to which I must daily wrestle,
Is knowing, that you wouldn’t have been, nearly half as cruel to me

You, my dearest enemy
For you, my kindest foe
You, my sweetest adversary
I do mourn the loss of you

You, my dearest enemy
For you my kindest foe,
You, my sweetest rival,
You brought focus to my day,

Rest assured my brother,
I’ll keep alive your memory,
As I meander through, these, my, remaining days
I’ll ensure your lineage is always well to do

Never shall I again be tested, never pushed as if you were here
Only tattered skylines, that once was blue, appear,
I lost the silver lining, when our last goodbye was through
And yet, each day, I still converse with you

26 comments:

  1. I hope this is not your true story, but I fear it is. Sometimes we learn to love too late. Yet you don't really show remorse. Interesting.

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  2. very interesting! :)wonderful use of words...

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  3. Ecorward, thanks for visiting and commenting on this piece. The poem is not autobiographical, but I agree with your notion about finding love too late. This piece is an idea I've long loved, ever since reading a short work by Jorge Borges in Labyrinths, which detailed the "separation anxiety" someone feels after a major loss. The Hero vs villain dynamic is something that has interested me for quite a long time. And Borges' story has also always stayed with me. So I wrote a piece, with this Hero vs Villain anxiety theme in mind. The narrator is the villain, who basically lost the luster of his craft, the fun is not there anymore, he actually misses the hero that chased him for so long. He mourns this parting, even though it is from his own doing, that the relationship ended. I always value others feedback, but I feel this character shows a tremendous amount of remorse, albeit in a selfish sense, so I agree with you in regards to whether or not the remorse is real, but he does feel it, just how it is in his mind, may be something different than what you or I may experience.

    I get the impression though, that if the hero was still alive and chasing him, his goal would remain to oust the hero, thus suffering this scenario all over again.

    Thanks for the comment. Comments that make an author go back and review their material are invaluable. Thanks again:)

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  4. Celestial Dreamz, thanks for stopping by and commenting. I'm glad you enjoyed this piece. And thanks for the kind words, I appreciate them:)

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  5. sincere words.

    everyone learns lessons.
    Cheers.

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  6. Jingle, thanks for the comment. Yep everybody learns a lesson now and then, even a villain. Thanks for stopping by:)

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  7. "How long will this pestilence ride-
    -Before I reach the grave?" I loved this line. A truly powerful emotional poem you've captured the feelings so perfectly it does seem autobiographical I am relieved to read its not because that would be so sad. We often take people closest to us for granted, fight over petty things, and then fail to say the most important things. A good lesson

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  8. Very interesting idea. Sometimes we only realize the value of somebody/something when we lose it. Thus, we should learn never to underestimate anything, and take the most from the time we have with people. Also, what comes to my mind after reading - often a person who hurts us in some way gives us an invaluable lesson by that. Nothing happens without a reason! ;)

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  9. Mindlovemisery, thanks for your visit and your comments. I agree do often take the people closest to us for granted. Glad you enjoyed the piece, thanks:)

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  10. Magdalena, Thanks for the visit and the comments. I agree underestimating is bad for all accounts and time is very precious. Thanks again I appreciate it:) I've added your site to my poetry list at the bottom of each page, really like your work, especially the stories:)

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  11. A fascinating piece. The idea of the loss felt at the end of the chase and after it is not new to mr, but never have I seen it written as elegantly and eloquently as this.
    The Lonely Recluse.

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  12. Yes, our foes if they consume our lives, truly become our only friends...I also know this tale but could never put it in proper words so for that I am humbled to have read your work. Truly grand. I loved it, and my words pale to honor such a piece, so for now I bid my ado and depart.

    No feeling is without cause,

    Shoeless

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  13. Our enemies makes us grow in character as much as our friends I think. Enjoyed the poem and thanks for the insight. :)

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  14. lonelyrecluse, Thanks for stopping by and commenting. I'm really glad you enjoyed this piece, your words are very kind, thanks:)

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  15. Shoelessboywonder, Thanks for visiting and commenting, I'm really pleased to see you enjoyed this piece, I always wanted to get this idea down, first I started with writing a short story, but after I got done, actually towards the end, I realized it was too similar to what had been done before, and finally I was able to get the sentiment down, albeit poem style, but for me that's seems the perfect and most apt form to use anyhow. Thanks again I really do appreciate your feedback, thanks:)

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  16. Ravenblack, thanks for stopping in and leaving a comment. I'm glad you enjoyed the piece. You're so on the nose with your comment, Enemies do make us grow in character, yes even as much as our friends do. I read something interesting recently, actually heard it many times before, but just resonated this go round. It was in regards to having your work, in this case script, but anyhow, having your work proofread by someone not related or friends with you. It didn't specify enemy or competitor, but it did say that you actually do yourself a disservice by relying on people close to you in this regards, as they may not feel the ability to speak honestly out of a fear they'll hurt your feelings.

    Anyhow, a bit off topic but your words immediately conjured this idea to me and thought I'd share it back. Thanks again, I do appreciate the feedback, thanks:)

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  17. "How long will this pestilence ride-
    -Before I reach the grave?"

    My how that resonates with me. Excellent insightful write, ectorward.

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  18. Ravienne, glad you enjoyed this piece. That line seems to be pretty popular. It 's one of my favorites in here as well, thanks for stopping by and commenting, I appreciate it, thanks:)

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  19. Jack, Glad to have you here. Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment. Yeah, you'll find out pretty quickly, if you haven't already, I have this never ending love affair with epic or saga/story related pieces. In fact I find it more difficult composing the smaller pieces. Brevity, is not my best quality. Anyhow, really glad you enjoyed this piece, it's something I've been trying to convey for quite a while. Thanks again:)

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  20. uh well...interesting

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  21. Lioness, well not sure if you liked the piece or not, but I'll take interesting as a positive. Thanks for visiting and thanks for reading, it is a rather long piece and I'm just glad to see a new face and hope to see you around again. Thanks:)

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  22. I especially love the first stanza. It was suggested to me just today that I shorter one of my poems and now I pass this advice onto you. This poem carries a poignant message and it could be made sharper and more profound with less words. Just a suggestion, well done.

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  23. Fountains, Glad you stopped by. Glad you enjoyed the piece. I appreciate the notion of shortening pieces. While shorter pieces do tend to be more focused and sharper, longer pieces are more personal, where the reader spends longer in your grasp. I have shortened some of my work before, and yes they were improved in one manner of speaking, but for this piece I actually wish I had made it longer even. I really wanted to prolong the suffering of this Villain, mourning the loss of his friend/enemy, the Hero. There are points I could tighten up a bit, which I had thought about doing, but than chose to keep it the way it was, to preserve the integrity of the inspiration.

    I do thank you for your advice though. Feedback and process advice is always beneficial, they can create improvements. But at the very least, they make the conscientious writer go back and dwell, ponder, question his work, which is never a bad thing to do.

    Thanks again, I really liked the work I saw on your site and will visit again:)

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  24. I agree! And thank you very much. :) I'll be visiting here again, as well.

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  25. Well written...this could actually be a living loss of someone or someone we lose through their passing...I will read it again. I like being on a journey and not having to read a lot into words because of brevity. But as you can see I am windy outnumbered worldwide. Sometimes people think less is more...like why read if you have to guess everything when a bunch of words are just thrown in a vague pattern. I loved your epic.

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