The Good Man (Poem)

The Good Man knows evil well,
But not from experience.
He sees it and does not commit it,

For he understands that it causes harm.

To cause harm is to commit evil,

And to plague one's heart.

His heart is immune to the disease,

That devilish disease that men love.

Evil is an addictive poison,

But the Good Man is immune.

The Good Man knows good well,

From the truest experience.

He loves it and does nothing but it,

For he understands the value of life.

To do good is to worship life,

And to strengthen one's heart.

His heart is the strongest of all,

Gladly willing to hold all else up.

Good is food for the soul,
And the Good Man is best-fed. 

But there is a flaw in the Good Man,

Something that renders him useless.

It is something dark, but not evil.

No, it is too true and rather sad.

The flaw in the Good Man lies within him.

His flaw is his perfect good.

It is hard to admit why. 

But admit I must.

His perfect good is impossible;

The Good Man is not a man at all.

-Zero

The Original Draft for Admeta

     I suppose you could call this a modern day Romeo and Juliet. I’m not quite sure if that’s what it is, but it seems fitting. The date is October 31st 2010 a Halloween I will never forget. Leading up to this night I would have never expected this to happen. It seemed like every other Halloween except the moon was full and illuminating the dark night. Even the stars were brighter tonight. It all seems connected, as if it was fate. I am like every other guy my age, excluding the numerous cuts all over my body. Mostly from sharp rocks from hiking and cliff diving. People had started to arrive for the Halloween party my friends and I were holding. We grew too old for trick or treating because apparently sixteen year olds are too old to do that. My parents left for the weekend so we had the house to ourselves. People kept flowing in like a stream of water. People kept mentioning how the moon is so much larger tonight. It’s almost like the old stories we hear around our little valley town about the connection to the spirit world on Halloween. They’re just stories though, which I had to remind many people who showed up. Soon enough we had a dancing house filled with drunken teenagers. I didn’t drink anything, I couldn’t stand the feeling that alcohol gives me. I walked around trying to find her. I wasn’t sure if she was able to come at all. I asked everyone, checked every room but no one had seen her. I decided to go outside for a quick breather after giving up on finding her. I slipped through the crowd and found the front door. Right before I opened it someone tapped me on the shoulder so I turned around and saw who it was.

     “Where’re you going?” He asked. I could smell the alcohol on his breath so strong I wanted to hurl.

      “You scared me a bit there Rick, I’m just going out for a walk in the moonlight.” I quickly explained wanting to get out the door as soon as humanly possible.

     “Alright Buddy! Just don’t get lost!” He laughed and stumbled off.

     I shook at the thought of being so intoxicated and made my way out the door. Once I was outside I could smell the moisture in the air and found myself thinking that it would be raining later. I walked down my street always lacking in people, no one ever came here. The tall pine trees seemed almost ominous as they towered over me. I reached the river that flows through the town; my street goes right to it. I started to admire the way the moonlight reflected on the water and how the beauty was somehow enhanced with the smell of the pine needles. It felt like I was where I belonged for the first time. I stood there and did nothing else for at least an hour just absorbing it all. Then suddenly I heard a noise to my left. I quickly turned to see what had caused it. Then I saw her. She was also admiring the river without noticing that I was no more then twenty feet away.

     “Admeta! Over here! It’s Innocenzio!” She quickly looked around and when she saw me she started to run towards me. I ran towards her and caught her in my embrace. “You got out? What if your parents find out?”

     She hushed me and said “For now I don’t care. Innocenzio wake up, we’ve been dreaming about seeing each other again since we met. Now the dream is real. I don’t care what trouble I get in, for now I have you and that’s all that matters to me.”

     I decided she was right. Every night was filled with the same dream of the water lilies and us sitting together by the river without any fear of the consequences. We would just sit there and gaze at the stars the smell of pine filling our noses. The perfect night together that we dreamed about every night had finally become real. Just then as I thought about it I realized that reality is never as good. She whispered something in my ear. I couldn’t understand her but I knew what she wanted. I pushed her back just enough to see the eyes that burned with a passionate fire. For a second I could hear the cracking of flames and could smell the smoke. Then we closed our eyes and I pulled her in for a kiss. Our lips pressed up against each other and suddenly our deepest most desperate desire was answered. Then we heard a scream that pierced our ears like a dagger and we fell to the ground attempting to block the sound out. When it stopped I realized where the cracking of flames same from. I jumped back up and looked to the sky noticing the smoke. Then came the yelling, the angry kind that would scare anyone out of their wits. It was coming from Admetas’ house. Her parents would find us soon and the entire town is awake. She got to her feet and gave me a worried look and I told her to hide. Once she was well hidden I took off at full speed heading back home. When I arrived I could feel the heat from the road and was engulfed in smoke. I found my way to where everyone had run to once they realized the house was on fire. I asked everyone what happened and if anyone’s still inside. Luckily no one was left inside. I sighed when I heard how the fire was started; Rick did something stupid and ended up lighting the place on fire in his drunken stupor. Rick got lucky no one was killed; only one person was burned badly.


     *Time passes, Innocenzio starts reminiscing about the first day he met her*

      I remember when I saw her for the first time. It was around a year ago at our school, the only place we were even allowed in the same room. Our class had been playing Pictionary because our teacher decided to give us a break from our school work. She was the only person who just sat in her seat and waited until class ended. I had been tired that day and I’ve never been a big fan of Pictionary. I mostly kept silent with my head down. All it took was one glance up to look around to see her. I was immediately captivated by her beauty in the dim light. The look on her face I will never forget. She looked at the others in such a way I forgot she was even human. She seemed like a goddess that had come down to watch us and protect us from ourselves. Her blonde hair and blue eyes only convinced me more that she was different. Her eyes looked a much deeper shade of blue, like the great blue of the oceans. I quickly got lost in her eyes and I lost track of time. In what seemed like a second the bell went and brought me back to reality. I couldn’t get her out of my head. She was like the incurable disease of my mind. Every night I dreamt of her for weeks following. Yet all that time I never could work up the courage to go speak to her. Luckily for me I didn’t have to. About a month from the day I first saw her, we by chance had to see the teacher about a piece of work he assigned us. He asked me where it was and I told him it was in my locker. Then seemingly out of no where she said with as smirk that it was at the bottom of my locker. I stood there shocked. Even now I have no idea how she knew. I’m sure she can read me like a book and she loved to read.

     *A couple months after the fire*

      Like always she looks like a goddess. Today her white top and beautiful smile made her glow. It was almost impossible to look away from her. I’m a moth drawn to the light. Today she is the reason for every positive thing in the universe. It’s like the sun rose just to see her today. I would love to capture her beauty and never lose sight of it but, I know her beauty must be free. No picture could ever capture her glow yet alone her sheer beauty. I spent nearly all class gazing at her from across the room mystified by her glow. Then like always the bell rang and that meant class was over. My only class with her this week ended in what felt like minutes. I knew that soon she’s moving far away. I don’t know where just yet but, it’s far. I hoped I could merely gaze at her a while longer but, it turns out she’s moving in around three weeks. It’s too soon for her to leave. I don’t want to be separated from her at any point in my life. Only being able to see her a few times a week kills me. The thought of never seeing her again is destroying me. Once she leaves, she’ll be gone forever. 

-------------------------------------------------------

This is the first piece of writing that involved Admeta as a character. She was loosely based off of a friend of mine from back in 2009. It was initially a novel idea, but I forgot about it within a year. Right before I started Camp NaNoWriMo for August, I started to consider continuing the novel. Of course, my sick morbid mind twisted the idea and changed the story. I thought that I might as well continue the story anyways. I have fallen behind temporarily, but I have no intentions of allowing myself to not achieve victory. I shall keep this short and end it here. Until next time,

-Zero

For Miss Swan

You fear the darkness,

But your fear creates it,

For no child simply does

And quickly learns to ask why.

Now you will understand what you have done,

For it is my duty to show you.

Understanding can be taught,

Even to those who have forsaken it.

First, I shall introduce you to 'reality',

Where people are often different from popular views.

Should there be evil in my heart,

It would be an anger born of another's fear.

Such anger is dangerous and best kept chained;

However, no chains can hold it forever.

For a reason I don't quite understand,

It is the innocence of others that calms it.

Innocents are quite like frogs,

For one may catch one in hopes of protecting it,

But should their grip be too loose, they will flee,

But should their grip be too tight, they will die.

Perhaps my evil is too great to hope for such things;

However, I dare say one can die without a lack of breath.

It is a twisted death, but very subtle.

It is the death of one's free mind.

It is this end that I fear most for your frogs,

For should their mind die, they will surely follow.

But should you loosen your grip a little,

Then perhaps they may be spared.

Now I take my leave,

For I am needed elsewhere.

Do not forget what I have said,

Nor should you forget this:

You fear the darkness,

But your fear creates it,

For no child simply does,

And always learns to ask why.

-Zero