Cauldron Anthology Issue 3: Year 1 Collection Cauldron Anthology Year One Issue FINAL 1.17.18 | Page 46

Izanami’s Final Invitation
David Pine
I saw my death.
I saw my death and she called me forward,
it was my turn to greet her.
The invitation stood hanging in the air:
It smelled of sumire, and momo,
but the flowers could not hide the stench of decay.
I reached forward and accepted her invitation,
I reached forward and accepted my death.
For a time, all was peaceful,
then I smelled the fire burning,
the skin falling off her like meat sliced from a bone.
The look in her eyes told me of her fury;
she would have her revenge.
She invited him forward
and I watched as I remembered how she had done that for me,
but back then her eyes were clear,
now all they revealed was the fire pit in her heart.
The revenge was not to belong to her,
instead her body became rot and she was no more.
It was too much for her mate
who cleaved the fire demon in two
and begged to see his wife once more.
Izanami could not be released from the Underworld though,
as she had already eaten of its fruit.
She was trapped now:
Her final invitation.