Game of Death

The poem you're about to read is so perverse,
so dark and disturbing you might think me insane,
but each word fell perfectly into verse
and not to write it would be true pain.

A man who appreciates life does not fear death,
but what lies beyond death no one truly knows.
This poem is about a young girl's last breath,
and so here is how her story goes:

It begins with a girl at the age of fifteen.
She was nowhere close to being old,
but not many has seen what she's seen
and on the inside she felt empty and cold.

She had lost her parents when she was only nine
and each man she gave her heart to had left her.
Love never helped her heart over time;
soon all she had left was her little sister.

Years went by as she slowly lost faith in God.
Her meaningless life died with each passing day.
She walked upon the path she had trod,
and her tainted soul was lost-just cast astray.

One morning she awoke laying on a metal ground,
and with darkness surrounding she panted in fear.
The beating of her heart was the only sound
throughout the vast room that she could hear.

As she began to scream the lights flickered on
revealing the steel trap she was trapped in:
a room with no doors, no escape-everything gone,
only a cage of burning metal, holes, and a window within.

On the other side of the window was her baby sister
trapped inside the prison all alone and scared.
She screamed and begged for someone to help her
but not a soul knew that the two girls were there.

They looked at each other, eye to eye,
and they put their hands upon the glass;
just wondering whether they were going to die
just wondering how much longer they would last.

Then a voice filled the room and slowly said,
"Hello my friend, I would like to play a game.
If you win you'll die, otherwise it will mean her death.
I've watched you a while but don't know your name.

No name seems fitting for someone like you,
drowning in pity yet burning in the fire of hate.
You don't appreciate life at all; you don't live true
even though there is so much out there that's great.

The rules are simple: you must pull the lever down to win,
but remember that in saving your sister you must die
and to save her you must burn in the fire of sin
then drown in penance for all of the lies.

Will you sacrifice yourself to save your sis
or will you live on and suffer within.
The answer all just comes down to this:
Are you a good person? Let the game begin."

Then water began rushing into the other room
and her little sister began to scream in fear.
It was only a matter of time before it was her tomb
and that time was quickly coming near.

The older one ran to the burning hot cage,
wishing it was all just a bad dream,
but in a mix of desperation and rage
she stuck her arm in and began to scream.

The fire and heat instantly scorched her skin,
burning, blistering, melting her hand.
Crying and reaching for the lever a few feet in,
tears rolled down her face and fell to the land.

The smell of burning flesh and fresh blood,
the sound of a child screaming for help,
the sight of tears and flesh mixing into mud,
the feeling of scorching heat equal to hell;

all of these pervaded and infected the place
and the girl of fifteen looked to her little sister
praying and praying for God to shed grace,
wishing at least that the dying one was her.

Water had practically filled to the top.
The little one's life was slowly fading away.
Just as her heart and lungs were about to stop
the lever was pulled; water went the other way.

The liquid had immediately put out the fire.
The girl of fifteen saw her end near,
but saving her sister was her only desire
and in doing so her conscience was clear.

Blood and tears mixed into her watery grave
as tiny fists pounded on the glass in sorrow.
There was nothing she could do to be saved;
she wouldn't live to see tomorrow.

The last thing she saw was her darling sis
leaning on the window while crying,
trying to break the glass with her fist
as she saw her only family dying.

The final thought that went through her head
was a prayer to God saying she was sorry.
The last thing that she had said,
"God, I'm so sorry. Please forgive me."

At that time the last bit of life left her
and the lights turned off leaving darkness.
The last thing left was the little sister
consumed in pain and terrible sadness.

That is the end of the girl of fifteen.
Her story full of suffering and pain.
Please do not think of me as cruel or mean,
I am only a poet; I'm not the least bit insane.

To entertain you with this is not what I yearn,
to tell this story is not why I came.
I came to tell you that it is your turn.
My friend, I would like to play a game...