My eyes have witnessed death and miracles
Experience enough to last ten men
What sights that I have seen must now be told
That other men might learn from what I know
The tale I have to tell has caused me pain
But also it has given me a hope
This hope that keeps me strong within my heart
Though old in body yet I wander on
My purpose lies in telling all my tale
And now I live that others might live too
For if my words give hope to other men
Then I can die and live in others' hearts
The man that I must tell you of lives not
He left the mortal world some time ago
And yet within my heart he is alive
I hope that he will live in your heart too
Like all old men I too was once a boy
I grew up in a village far from here
It was in this far place my tale begins
And there it too will end when my time comes
Before I left that place and walked the land
Before a storyteller I became
I worked the lands with fellow villagers
And lived the simple life of a young boy
One year as we were planting out the seed
A young man of the village stumbled home
He had been wandering in the wilderness
Where land grows wild and dangerous to man
At first he seemed to only be confused
But quickly did he sicken and grow ill
And as that day was ending so did he
As night eclipsed the sun he lost his life
Much sorrow ran throughout the village men
To lose a part of what had made them strong
As we had planted seed so did we him
And lay the young man's body out to rest
We covered up his body in the earth
From where his life had sprung it would return
The village mourned but soon our life went on
And left behind the grieving of the dead
For though we must remember all our past
Our future still remains for us to live
But what our future held for us was dark
And soon we would have cause to grieve again
And troubles of the like of these I know
For sure they come not singly but in droves
That year the crops grew sickly if at all
And nothing healthy came out from the earth
It was as if the sickness of the youth
Had spread to all of our surrounding land
Some claimed a curse was acting on that man
And his removal was our only hope
His wife elected that she dig him up
And take the corpse away to rot in peace
Her love was an example for us all
And thusly did she walk into her doom
The ground where he was buried had turned grey
And not a plant was growing in the soil
She set about to dig her husband up
And soon uncovered his last resting place
But what strange miracle was this she saw
His body had not rotted but was whole
And as the sun's bright rays fell on his face
She saw his eyelids open with a start
And what she saw then made her scream aloud
Such horror in that scream I never knew
And quickly running came the village men
To see before them such a scene as this
There stood the man whom all had thought was dead
Alive once more and in his arms his wife
But this was not to be a scene of joy
For she was held tight in a death like grip
She beat his arms because he caused her pain
But he oblivious stood like a tree
Now fearing for her very life she fought
And pleaded with her husband with these words
Good sir I beg you show me mercy please
But mercy had he none to show or give
Then with a careless gesture of his arm
He broke his young wife's neck and dropped her down
Then with an almost absent minded turn
He shambled on towards the village square
Some rushed towards the woman some to him
But she was dead and so I fear was he
Those that approached him questioned how he lived
But answer made he none and on he walked
What man is this that can unfeeling work
Expressing no emotion nor desire
The answer came no man was he at all
No man that dies can rise to live again
Who had been but a man was now a beast
A beast though not of passion but of pain
All warmth and life had drained out from his face
And though his body moved his eyes were dead
Now when the word came that he killed his wife
The village men prepared to fight this thing
They brought stout sticks to keep the beast at bay
Whilst herding him towards an empty house
But though the blows rained down upon his corpse
The man kept walking on without a care
His movements stilted bloodless were his wounds
And staring on his dead and empty eyes
And yet they persevered our strong men
The strength within their bodies served them well
Together did they beat the beast within
And once inside they threw the doorway closed
This house was but a temporary cage
We knew we could not keep it trapped within
And so we barred the door to give us time
Whilst wondering what move we next could make
Then from the wilderness there walked a man
A stranger dressed in well worn travelling clothes
Although he walked quite slowly it was clear
His destination was our village square
We few who gathered there called out the rest
And soon the village stood assembled all
The man approached and came into our midst
The villagers stood in a circle round
This stranger had the look of a young man
And yet his eyes seemed older than the hills
We saw he had a cut upon his thumb
And idly would he rub it back and forth
His very presence seemed to make us calm
As though we knew this stranger was our hope
Those people that despaired and cried aloud
Now quietened and felt the stranger's peace
Those men that bravely battled with the beast
Now felt their hearts grow stronger with his warmth
We asked him what his name was and he said
My name is not important nor is yours
We asked him why he came here and he said
I come because you needed me to come
We asked him if he knew about the beast
He said that he would put the man to rest
We hoped that he could rid us of that thing
Yet wondered how he knew the dead man walked
He moved with calm authority and grace
Towards the building where the thing was caged
We wondered too on how he knew the house
For none of us had said wherein it lay
But just as he knew things that we did not
So did the beast itself seem to know him
There came a crash as wood flew to the ground
The walking corpse had broken down the door
And with its oddly slow and awkward gait
It walked towards the man with violent thought
Though dead to feeling all could feel its hate
And all there feared the stranger too might die
With open heart the stranger met the beast
That thing had no defence against his calm
He walked towards it purposefully slow
And raised no arm in anger or in fear
I swear I saw it wildly swing its arm
It seemed to pass straight through the stranger's head
But on he moved as though he were but smoke
And slowly he embraced the walking corpse
This thing that all of us had learned to fear
This stranger showed no fear to but love
And then we saw the pair of figures glow
Yet lit not from without but from within
The cut upon his thumb had opened wide
It dripped though not with blood but with some light
A light so pure that all else seemed in dark
And where it struck the ground it disappeared
He traced a mark upon the dead man's head
He traced it on his forehead with the light
Where weapons had not made a single cut
We saw his love strike deep into its heart
And as the mark glowed brightly then went out
So did all movement leave the dead man's limbs
It slumped into the stranger's close embrace
All life deserting that which once life filled
Those arms those legs that moved unnaturally
Now looked as dead as those two staring eyes
And gently did he lay the dead man down
Once more our fellow villager at rest
And now a silence fell upon those there
We hardly dared believe our own two eyes
What had we seen here in our village square
What miracle were we now witness to
With danger passed the man turned back to us
And now we saw that he was not unharmed
The blow which I had thought to pass straight through
Had left a claw like gash upon his cheek
But then we saw with further wonderment
Not blood ran down his face but shining light
What man was he whose veins ran not with blood
But with this burning liquid bright as fire
One child young went forward to his aid
One boy who had not learned to be afraid
I was that boy that placed my hand on his
I was the one who tended to his face
But as I wiped away that shining light
It disappeared like it never was
And just as quickly vanished any mark
That just before was cut into his cheek
And now I felt his cold hand under mine
His flesh not warm but cold just like the corpse
I took my hand and placed it on his chest
To feel the beat within his loving heart
But vainly did I strive to find a beat
His heart lay still as still as that young man
This heart so filled with love that all he saw
Were filled from deep within with healing warmth
This heart was dead to movement and to warmth
It pumped not blood it pumped not life itself
And then the truth of how he lived was clear
He had not life in this world but the next
Such sorrow could be read upon his face
That tears of grief sprang freely from my eyes
He stood there so alone within the crowd
A solitary soul without a home
And saying no more words to any there
Head bowed he turned and slowly walked away
We stood in silence none of us could speak
Until the distance hid him from our sight
And sure as I am writing down these words
This man of sorrows walks among the dead
Stelio Passaris
12-9-1999