by Stefanie
And then, she glided down before me,
Draped in glittering classic robes of green
And her piercing blue eyes stared into me
And her black hair flew in the wind
And she smiled at me, a taunting smile.
She was tiny as a butterfly
And her wings were as big, though translucent,
And she said to me, "It's a terrible habit,
Antoine, you know, and you really need to stop,
Because one day, it's going to kill you,
And you will lie at the feet of a fallen marble god."
I watched as the Emerald Faerie flew away from me,
Wondering at her strange words
And her frightening resemblance to my dead sister.
When she had gone, I turned around
To start my walk back home, but
I was stopped by War and Destruction,
Placed before my astonished feet.
Destruction smiled a grim smile
As he rapidly destroyed the barricade
And the Corinth, the streets and my world.
War laughed as she made sure that
No one forgot to kill.
I silently followed them as the entered
The Corinth, where yesterday I had ate, drank, and slept.
National Guards forced students, men I knew,
To retreat into the small café.
I watched in silent pain as War and France
Murdered, just as silently, old friends:
Courfeyrac, Bahorel, Bossuet, Joly.
I saw none of the others, except
Apollo.
And there, upon a table, lay my slumped
And drunken form.
And the only person left alive was Apollo--and me.
And the National Guards took aim.
And one claimed he was a flower.
And I stood up and beside my statue.
And I fell at his feet, beneath the gentle rain
Of bullets.
And then I woke up.