Mika

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I told Mika to brace himself.
He didn't.
They kicked him in the stomach and now look!
He's fallen to the ground like dead leaves;
And they have skirted away into the woods.
Mika says his rib is broken; and the ache in his head would kill ten cows.
I am scared.
There's dark blood coming out of his mouth.
He's crying. He's sputtering.
I am watching helplessly; I feel caged.
I should do something-- but what?
The sun has died in the sky,
The approaching night is hot.
But Mika's body turns cold..
All I can do now is beg-- beg Mika to live;
Or beg death to keep away.
Mika is headstrong. So is death.
Mika says he must stay; death says he must go.
Their battle rages before me, across my eyes like migrating birds;
Mika is a wrestling spirit; a fighter,
But death does not come to fight, she comes to take.
Mika is weakening. Mika is feeble.
My voice is lost from screaming my pleas,
But death can hear my whisper.
I say, "take me instead".
She turns to me, a truly ugly woman, she is.
She smiles. I think she likes me.
But she says no; that we will meet some other time,
Not now.. Not here.
I tell her to make a trade with me.
Her ears perk up; she listens.
I tell her to give Mika's life;
And I'll give her something she's never had before.
"And what is that?" She asks amused.
"Love" I say.
She freezes.
She tells me she cannot understand it-- love;
She tells me she cannot fathom why it is people cry when she takes someone.
She thinks humans are a perplexing breed.
I agree. We are indeed.
She's looking deep into my eyes now.
She knows I mean it;
That I can love her dearly for sparing my brother;
That I can caress every sore,
Suck every drop of green, slimy pus,
Kiss passionately the forgotten lips on her face;
That I can hold her hands firmly, affectionately,
As she fills the valley of the shadow of death with demons,
That I can make her laugh on her way back from claiming a body
So the miles along desert sands will be shorter, and not so alone,
And not so cold and empty;
And for once, just once, she'd understand,
What it means to have someone;
And from there, what it means to lose someone;
And perhaps, why we cry…