Those That Guard the Paths of the Dead (a poem)

 

The men of Dunharrow were forever
unable to die and trod infernal paths
betrayal of an oath
with God and country cast aside
Isildure betrayed

They were fated to guard paths of the dead
the living would not take without trespass
and kill the living
who took the wrong way for expediency
vengeful as an army

   Fiction is like an iceberg from the mind
a chunk of ideas free flowing
in the stream of consciousness
the worldly are too distracted
worshiping Sauron

The dead- allegiant to Thor and cyberpath figurines
perhaps idols in thought
while metaphors are strewn like guts
upon branches blasted by artillery rounds
from the Earth underground

   The Army of the dead would follow Aragon
an heir of the man and alliance they'd betrayed
writhing under Isildure's curse
those who saved their lives lost them
never to rest until their choice for death was forgiven

   Free will is a ponderous thing
what brings men to branch
while alive to the right or wrong paths
and take the narrow path to life
rather than the paths of the dead

   Spiritually dead perhaps God would let them rest
one day if they could serve
to prove they had some capacity
for loyalty unto death
pre-determined lines

   Following the one soul
an army of the spiritually dead were lost
to life and craving for release
never to occur before serving the living
in the campaign against evil

   If the world ended September 23rd
if poetry had stopped
in the midst of stanzas and structures
staves with festivals of trumpets sounding
the dead would hear the host

   A spiritual battle is never finished
wars of original sin rage after wealth and power
without a call the spiritually dead remain so
never finding release
before final judgment.