It was the other day
I overheard two soldiers talking behind me
as I walked on the familiar weathered road
Their laughter was chortled and muffled
Their muscles glared
as they carried the coffin of the dead Pharaoh
Asking questions of what is
what is to be done
Things will end soon they said now the lord is dead
Yet that’s just how things are
Why, that’s life
It’s only natural there be a new rule
what can be done
So we’ll go to Mars
So we’ll go to the seven seas
So we’ll go far and far away
So we’ll go to the great beyond
and enter the vast black pit
The King will lead us there
In that hole where we’ll begin anew
arising from tar and oil not as worms
but as angels
A new earth made
A new order
Yes, we will bring it there
For nothing is wrong in the world
Everything is beautiful
It is brilliant
A world made
A strong stench of rot suddenly carried itself to my nose
meat and flesh burning, gnats pelted my eyes
a deep sense of nausea and unease came over me
as I felt the dry dead hands of a millennia
wrapping themselves around my ankles
I final plea to my instincts, I quickly turned off the road and let them pass
My breath heavy, I turned to them once more
they tread off towards the desert without a nod in my direction
Their legs scabbed and bloody
They faded under the sun as they pawed the sand,
looking for where to find the right place
By Benjamin Wagner ’21
