An End to the End

I closed my eyes and began to dream 

And in front of me appeared a stream

One that was called “the stream of life”

Walking beside it I was privy to my strife

As I walked I came upon the three Fates

Their eyes appeared to be gaping gates

Ones that brimmed with eternal hate 

For though I carried mortal weight 

My deep love had made me immortal

So I had not entered their deathly portal 

Nona spoke first, her voice enchanted

“I am the master of all mans birth

I hope that they will revel in mirth

Though I clearly don’t care for their worth 

As I let mothers endure childbirth”

Decuma’s voice rasped as she ranted

“I determine each man’s lifespan 

And for every man I have a plan

But you, my friend, I could not ban 

Because I could not even make you wan”

Morta’s words were clearly in Canted

“I determine the time of each mans death

And snip my string at their last breath

Even if it means they face the God, Seth

Or meet my dear friend Macbeth”

They looked me in the eye and chanted

“The human world is so fragile

And life becomes a hassle

And as they become less agile

They leave their earthen castle”

I frowned deeply at their many words

For mankind should be treated like lords

“Rather than binding us in cords,

You should treat us as your wards”

Morta chucked at my comment

“We do not care for you one whit

For we have power over a man’s spirit

And from that power we will never quit

Even if the Gods deem us unfit”

And so I saw before me that day

Three women who’s eternal pleasure

Was that of having mortal prey

The horrors of man were their treasure

As I pondered Nona bound my wrists

And Decuma sucked away my mortal gifts

I was now the prisoner of my own fate

I was strong, but knew it could be too late

Morta pushed me towards the stream

As I touched the water it began to gleam

And filled with memories from my past

Nona spoke of the trauma I had amassed 

Her voice filled my mind with dread

“Every day your life has been full of pain

From loss to depression to body shaming 

And yet you still push up against the grain

For your happiness, you still are aiming”

As the hurtful thoughts began to plink

I knew that I must make them shrink

For if I didn’t, I would lose my control 

Forgetting the love that made me whole

As I struggled I remembered something I had been told

One day when others thoughts and words had been to scold

One dear friend told me that “everyone else is full of shit”

And so I grit my teeth, tensing up, and refusing to quit

It didn’t matter what these woman thought

For if it did my whole life would have come to naught 

I didn’t choose to fight forever for no good reason

But so that I could help others for another season

Then Decuma’s voice broke in

“There is nothing left for you to live for

Every time you thought you had won

We simply took away something more

It’s clear that you have been outdone”

Then flashed before my eyes,

Everything that I had lost

I heard my family’s cries

And relived lifelong lies

I watched my grandmas demise

And saw my dreams vaporize 

And realized life came at a high-cost

Seeing the despair cross my face

Morta grabbed my life’s string

And began to cut with horrifying grace

The despair in my head began to ring

But I couldn’t give up yet

I felt my life ebbing away

As she made it half-way

And on myself, I made a bet

With a groan I took a deep breath 

And fought off my impending death

The string hardened before our eyes

And coughing I began to rise

For I felt the love that made me whole

The love of those I cared most deeply for

A love that always filled my entire soul

A love Nona, Decuma, and Morta abhor

I was filled with the love of those who passed on before

I was filled with the love of those who still lived on earth

I was filled with the love of everything that had been taken from me

My voiced roared with years of anger

It roared with a voice of hope

It roared with a voice warning of danger

It roared with a voice of hope

“If you refuse to learn

That for happiness we yearn

And play your part in our joy

Then I will take your powerful toy!”

Nona, Decuma, and Morta shook

And reaching out with a hook

I grabbed every broken string

And reached for every lost thing

Then one by one, I repaired each string

And returned every single lost thing

“There have always been three fates!” I shouted

“The first is Nona, to live and to die

The second is Decuma, to bargain for more

The third is Morta, to hope for life after life”

“But now there is only one, one where we thrive forever more

One where we live happily, without any mortal strife 

One where instead of inevitability dying, we learn to fly!”