They think I come with blade and breath,
That I stalk the streets and shadow death.
But I am neither fear nor wrath,
I simply walk the final path.
My name’s inside each pulsing drum,
Though most don’t hear where I have come.
I don’t take — no need to steal,
I only come when it is real.
Let me tell you of the day,
Of lives that slipped like smoke to gray.
At dawn, I met a child near stone,
His chest collapsed, his lungs had grown
Too tired to hold one more breath,
And so I came — a friend, not death.
He looked at me, not gripped by fright,
But softly glowing in the light.
Some part of them, in every end,
Still knows that I am not the bend.
Later, I paced through halls of white,
A woman fading into night.
She held her daughter’s trembling skin,
And whispered “Finally, I’m in.”
In that hush, her voice grew strong,
A peace that echoed like a song.
I came to one in steel and glass,
A man whose time had come to pass.
No soul beside, no hand to grip,
He watched the city as his ship.
His silence held a soft release,
Not fear — perhaps a kind of peace.
I am not cruel — I do not bite,
Nor twist the day into the night.
Cruelty is man’s own flame,
I only come when time lays claim.
The sickness, crash, the rust of age,
Are not my doing, not my cage.
I only walk, I only stay,
And take the final breath away.
I do remember, that is true,
Each soul, each heart, each faded hue.
Not their pain, but what they meant,
The whispered words they never sent.
Their loves, regrets, their final fire,
Their stories hung on quiet wire.
You may fear me — hearts will race,
But I’m no monster to erase.
I am not the end you see,
But rather, what must always be.
Beyond my step, there lies a land,
Too deep, too vast to understand.
I cannot tell you what’s beyond,
To speak it breaks what makes the bond.
Tonight I’ll visit one who writes,
Whose ink will fade between the nights.
He’ll drop his pen, his final line,
And see me there — a face like time.
And when he does, as soft as thread,
I’ll nod and gently turn my head.
And say the words I always do —
“Come. Let us walk. There’s more for you.”
Blade of Death