The Damned and the Innocent

but in the end
the damned and the innocent
the strong and the weak
those of high birth and of low birth
those who work and do
those who dedicate themselves to leisure
are all but actors upon which life’s spotlight finds itself to be little more than a fallen idol
their insolence
their indolence
their energetic indifference
to them do lead to a certain end
in all the ways and strictures and structures
constructed by the artifice of the life
do, insofar as it can be applied by the cold morning light
procure that solitary grasp
in which the life they lived proved nothing but the mere performance of repeated actions
that in the end would provide no solace to them
some laughed in the face of death
some cried in the face of death
yet others gave nary a care
simply living out the remainder of their lives
hoping to stretch out their time being in the land of the living
and delaying death’s arrival as much as they could
they did not succeed
for in death’s grasp not one person can find oneself left alive
in the art of dying, the person is subsumed
both damned and saved have little authority
much like in life
where the damned and saved merely went through the motions of life as though they were enchained marionettes
some amongst them asked if it was all worth it in the end
if their faith
if their possessions
if their wealth
if their accomplishments
if those things they saw and those places they went
proved to be little more than mere artifices
of the contrived life they lived
in judgement
some were sent one way
and some were sent another way
their paths were diverged once again
yet no one could see where they were
for death’s black shroud
blacker than the darkest night
obscured the world outside the realm of the dead
those split began following the paths set for them
heading down a slow, turgid march
it was as though they knew they were headed further down the road to their demise
but in spite of that knowledge
could not prevent the progression of death’s ascension over the remnants of the life they once lived
as they continued onward
their life on earth became but a mere fragment of thought
slowly dissipating away
slowly sublimating into a brief state of temporal bliss amidst that state of eternal bliss
and eventually, even that brief state of temporal bliss
and the overarching state of eternal bliss
ascended upon them all
before the holocaust of fire
passed over all
and the flames of heavenly reckoning
consumed all
one world
one heaven
one hell
one state of existence
do all but go away
ultimately, the innocent and damned
are all damned
for themselves and their lives
and all that they knew
will banish and fade away
and everything one day will cease for all