Student Publishing Program ::

Dan Bernstein

To Death

Final encounter,
Relentless riptide of childhood merry,
You strip us naked of life,
Only to drape in coats of velvet and cherry.

Endlessly taking,
Your only retribution is familial greed and overcast disbelief,
In that which lasts forever,
Is it never more than soul crushing grief?

You have no heart,
No love no charm,
So desperately grasping for beloved affection,
You steal with no reflection onto Persephone’s harm.

Why me?
Why here? Why now?
Life so complete, so full, so divine,
Fallen apart, shattered pieces on the wintry ground.

Empty of remorse,
Delighting in the pain we bear,
You are so bitterly alone,
Though always accompanied by those of ours you snare.

Heedless in drudgery,
Through all our pain and all our plea,
You are joyous in the utter:
‘au revoir mon chéri’

[TABLE OF CONTENTS, LHS CLASS OF 2013 EDITION]