Desire of Red
Yang-Ha Kim
Under the marble layers and hidden ores is his rule,
The people, of forgotten tales now merely grey
The oldest brother reigns over the dead, gone of all life
He desires some color, perhaps a dash of red
Into this dark crevice that he calls a haven,
So he silently watches, accompanied by the shadows.
His mediocre life, of scorn and jealousy, suddenly interrupted by cries of the shadows,
They point upwards, into the land of his brothers’ rule
Shadows chatter eagerly of possible new resident for their haven
One who is not of nothing, one who is not of grey
The dark ruler sees only a girl, who is of pink and blue and red
He desires, he yearns, almost desperately: he will have that life.
Solemnly leaving his gloomy throne into the world of life,
He watches in his obsidian chariot from the shadows
There, a maiden within a field of poppies blood-red,
Something eternal, innocent, nothing like his rule
Swiftly he grabs her, her frighten screams echoing as they fall into the grey
A thought flickers in their fall: will she lose her color in this dreary haven?
Her refusal is clear, this is not her haven
While outside, the mother cries, killing nature’s life
She roams and searches throughout the Earth, allowing the green to fade into grey
However, she can never enter into his property, the kingdom of shadows
He knows that the daughter will have to go soon, back into his brother’s rule
But he also knows that he cannot lose her, his only shade of red.
Her weeping sobs are the only sounds at night, her eyes always red
Sorrow and misery are what she has learned in this twisted haven
He would come every day, watching her quietly like the ghosts of his rule
Guilt and despair is all that he sees, reflected from her eyes devoid of life
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