Hark!

Does one not hear the moans and shrieks from those laid down in the earth?

Does one not feel the severe quaking ripple through bodies?

Does one not drop to their knees and let the tears stream down and mix with the soil?

Wait.

I beg thee not to leave me, for I should surely fall into the hands of people who are no longer people!

I shall be taken and locked in a barred cage like a bird who is discarded after losing his song; made to stay by having his wings ripped off and thrown away.

Do not cry, my dear!

For once you start, I too shall be tossed into the pit of despair in which you lay – merely a lump of flesh for savage beasts to feast upon, forgotten and lonely- though, is loneliness still able to wrap its tendrils around me once I have fallen into my grave?

Hark!

I say again! Hold on to me, my love!

For I fear to be left to rot away, deprived of comfort and sanctuary and peace!

I fear of drifting off to a place where no one has returned from!

I shall grasp your hand if you will grasp mine, against all odds that try to tear me away!

Let me stay, I say! Let me stay!

I should not like to dream of leaving, for what if I should not wake up!

Would my memory stay alive, or die with me?

Promise me, please, that I shall be kept in your heart, not in a barred cage!

I would wilt and sag like a flower that is coming to an end, and I should not want that at all!

I want to stay youthful and oblivious to the cries of the dead that rouse my fears!

I want to stay cooped up and safe like a baby chick, not left to the lions!

I want to stay young for ever, not old and a step away from death!

Take my hopes and wishes and protect them I ask of you!

Even if they do take me, make sure that what I have achieved, and what I hoped to, shall never, ever, hear the cries of the dead!