In the undying words of Granny Weatherwax: I AINTET DEAD!

I’ve been meaning to post this after I post the next Shadows chapter but… The typing is going slower then I thought and also, I have some serious studying to do which makes the process even slower, so I figured I might as well give you people something to chew on in the meantime.
These two might make more sense after reading the next Shadows chapter; alternatively, the next Shadows chapter might make more sense after reading these two. Can be read as stand-alones as well.

I’ve always been better at expressing myself through poetry than prose. Not a top-notch poetry by any means, but I’ve been told I generally manage to get the message through. What message, though, is often a mystery, even to me. Not so with these two, however.
These are the only two poems ever that were directly inspired by a character concept I created (meaning, not based on any personal experience). Ironically enough, also the only two pieces that didn’t make it into any chapter of Shadows.

“The Tomb” is a fairly old one, written way back in 2001 (or was it 2002?) while Shi’van was still but a vague idea in my head, as an RPG character and under a different name. The original version is in Serbian, but I’m pretty satisfied with how the translation came out. I managed to keep the pacing, the structure and the rhythm of it unchanged and in poetry, that is about the biggest plus you can get.

“Silence” is a more recent addition, perhaps three or so months old. I had a temporary block with a part of the chapter I was (and still am) working on, so I wrote Silence instead.

Silence

silence - neither croak, nor shout
silence – voiceless; heavy; deep
foreboding, a soundless shroud
neither whisper, nor a weep

silence - not outside - within
silence - the imprisoned thoughts
dark and painful, mocking grin
sliding blade across the throat

silence - tomb of the unspoken
silence - viper cold and dead
voiceless void, a wordless token
drying blood on desert sand

silence - echoes of the rust
silence - path to netherworlds
isolation, swallowed dust
of the dunes of unsaid words

silence - paint the walls in bitter
silence - bleeds through fever dreams
strangulation, soulless drifter
in a grave of unheard screams

& & &

The Tomb

In a thick stench of sweat
The smelly entrails of the street poured out
And spilled onto dust its decay
While the corrosion eats away at the dagger
Forgotten in a corpse, on dog’s excrements
- silent feet walking away

The blue-green markings of lust
Inerasably imprinted by dirty hands
On stale piles of garbage and dirt
Another handful of salt
Rubbed again into barely healed scars
- bad blood, in darkness cursed

In a humid corner, in spasm
A shadow of broken body is bending
Revolted by touch, convulsing
A drop sliding out of a dead eye
That hides bitterness in a stare of glass
- muffled pain numbly pulsing

Through sickness and burning fever
Fists clenched in helpless despair
In rage, in mute scream that lashes
A runaway mind in suffering chained
The feelings choked in deadened chest
-The soul poisoned with ashes