The Brothers

Two brothers once stood at the heart of a void and looked unto themselves
To make something from nothing-ness and into their hearts they delved
From their bodies they drew out the stuff of stars, and cast it out for light
And the resulting orbs they saw they’d made, filled them with delight
With uplifted hearts they set about creating more and more
Until, by light, the Universe was bare, or so they thought they saw

So fly they did, from star to star, seeding each with worlds,
And even more exotic things they spun from what they were
But even so, they knew, they knew, that still there must be more,
So something else to fill the void upon them must be borne
And to each planet did they visit, seeding each with life,
Until so many had been done, that the first few had grown rife

But still this did not seem enough, so they set about once more
And reached even deeper down inside, deeper than before
And one did find inside him, the idea of a being
That would have power to master all that it would see
But with such feats comes hardship, and hardship comes with pain
Despite this the first god of man, tore himself in twain

The second brother saw the love the first one had to give,
And so he gave this being created, the soul and desire to live
So now these brothers both could watch as by the by we grew
And conquered what we saw of life and grew to many from few
So the brothers, content though sore, happily withdrew
And went to nurse each other back to health, letting us rule in lieu

For thousands of generations, our numbers grew and grew
Until both brothers came back, both their strengths’ renewed
But looking down upon us, they saw that, while our spirits had soared,
Our actions had nearly undone us, and at this they were both abhorred
So they sent a great wave of water, and most men then were killed
But they saved a few of our number, so that we could have a chance to rebuild

All, though, was not equal in what they chose to be done,
For while one wanted mercy for all, the other wanted to let live: none
So between the brothers, discord was first sown, though they did allow for few
To survive the wrath of the bitter one, and begin the journey anew
The first of the brothers claimed clemency, for from him our bodies were born,
But the second demanded extermination for from him our souls were won

“Please, brother, together we have created the most beautiful of our child
why do you wish for the end of so many, why is your rage more than mild?”
“For while they are of your body, your connection to them is no more,
but the horror they visit upon each other, the murder and rape, the war:
all of this comes back to haunt me, for their souls are still linked to mine,
and the evil they visit upon one another will pain me throughout all time”.

The first of the brothers, from whose flesh we’re born, left at the onset of the flooding
But before too long, he returned with a smile, and gripped his brother, then hugging
In a close embrace he whispered something, then dissolved in his brother’s arms,
And the brother with which we share our souls, wept and stared at his empty palms
And, tears in his eyes, he looked down to us and, as the water receded, he spake
“This promise to you, for my brothers love, I will not interfere again for his sake”.

For his brother, it seems, had figured it out – he knew what it was he must do
For his brother, and love, and all of mankind, he would try his best to remove
The pain that we caused to the soul of his kin, and the soul of the Earth that they made
But he knew he could not sever the link, so as long as his brother did bade
In the Universe which they both had began, and seeded with stars, dust, and souls
So small and so insignificant to the beauty and love they had known

He gave all that he was and could be, to temper the link with these men
And gave one last gift to his brother, and us if you have enough ken
All that he was, and all he could be, was love not tempered with pain
And now a great echo of song and love is all of him that remains.