By CHINADOLL
Date: 13 December 1999

THE LOVERS

The Liberator
With his pangs of grief
Twisting in pain
Holding off the truth
Crying until the last tear was shed
And finally finding the courage to admit to love
To himself

The storyteller
Radiant as day
Breaking over everywhere
Streaming sunlight in his face
Standing close
Bewitched him
Possessed him

He was unable to move
Stinking glory
Melting arrogance
Suffering horror at his weakness
They did not say anything
They didn't have to

The liberator told the storyteller
His thirst for anisette
She answered him with silence
He waited for her to speak, in anguish
She held in her hand a flask of laudanum
Poison that would quell the rage in the depths of his soul
His great thirst for it
She laughed at his thirst

Stay alive, she said
It was anguish for him 
For the memory
For there was no warning
For there was no reason
For the pangs of grief

The storyteller held the liberator in her arms
Looking without speaking
They had not exchanged a word
She hadn't the slightest idea
What it was like
No
And then there was quiet
Except for the metallic cries of the birds
She felt in her blood the wild beating of her free will
She willed it
Until he comes to terms with his own rage
She will protect him from the curse

Listening without blinking
Watching the clear horizon
The sky without a single cloud
It was their destiny
It was waiting

He begged her to "mean what you say"
The frost on her lashes told the story of the tears
Life has no limits
But love is stronger when death is near

Fifty-three years, eleven months, and nineteen days and nights
It was just as good as forever
He said
She shuddered
She recognized his voice
Illuminated by the final acceptence of what was true
The liberator came forth
The storyteller wept with joy