Atropos

Edited by Daniel Perez Picardo

The hardest part of the human mind

Is the impermanence of the fruits of our grind.

We work our entire lives like ants

In a world so dense and vast,

But when it’s time to cut the thread,

We look back and realize that there’s nothing left

Of our toils. Working the string,

Three hags have found a way to sing

Themselves a work song while they’re in Hell,

Humming and focused, they’re besides themselves.

Atropos cuts without second thought

While I, so puny, sit muddled and lost.

Atropos, I beg you, please tell me your secrets,

And when I wake up, allow me to keep them.

I don’t want to fall through the pipes;

I don’t want to live an indecisive life.

I want a life fueled by passion and decision,

Not one lived without fuel for a mission.

I want my life to be like arrows at a bow.

I want a life other than the one I live now.

Day by day, night by night,

As the seasons pass and the monarchs take flight,

As I become more like a crooked version of myself,

As I wish all the more to ask the Spinner for help,

I wish that I could watch and learn

From Atropos of Hades-the one who can’t be turned.