(Old Man On Death Bed, Gustav Klimt, 1899)

Old Man

Son, take a look
Weary is the end
No virility lingers in the cave that now stands
Huddled kindred no longer seeking protection
Laughed at for a fool, judged by my failures
Loved for things I cannot remember
What use is that?
To lay with eyes wide open and nothing left to see
Nothing left to do

She is gone
She had to go
The devil cursed her travels; took what was mine
Made me watch as he seduced her to oblivion
Fragility is hard to watch
It broke me, making me lame and useless
Cavernous of the man I once was, the bone of my bones sucked dry
I am tethered to the dark horse who knows no boundary for loss
Take me! 

I heave, and heave again
My breath fighting
I wish it would stop, doing what I do not will it
I don’t want anymore, I don’t fear anymore
I don’t cry anymore
But I heave, and I heave
Hard to breathe, hard to bleed
Hard to give up and hard to stay
Is this purgatory?

But I’m still here, until I won’t be
And no one will ever know the man that lived inside
The dreamer of hearts, father of men, the lover of her
Withered away to obscurity
Where you watch
Thinking you are more than the sum of my parts
But here I am; so too will you be
Watch, worry, and beware
For there is nothing left to remember