View source for Subpoena

{{byline|author=Justin S. (Whiteflame)|user=Whiteflame}}

<poem>
I looked out dreamily from my window secure,
To endless wastes, and plains, and star-speckled skies;
But it was brief, for as I;
Wanted nothing of it to behold.
I looked toward my spirit in its desires,
To blesséd realms, lives anew, and dreams fulfilled;
But it lasted not, for as I;
Needed not one bit of it.

All roads lead to death,
The onset of which was all, but unchecked;
And with that I coughed and sputtered red mist,
And beheld my door through which my murderer had fled.
All that grasped me was a cold blighted hand,
Which reached through my chest to stir my pains;
Black light I foresaw and wanted nothing of it;
Not to experience, not to clutch, not to vanquish.
I wanted it not, not to die.

As I strained with my dimming ears,
I perceived a phantasmic noise, out of place, and out of world;
A rapping on the door through which my bane had fled,
A cold echo rupturing the frost of my house.
I tensed in fear in thought of his return,
To complete the task of which he was sent;
And as the booming door broke aloft,
My hope froze in one last icy breath.
But it was not so.

In stepped a man, if he can be called so much,
Hooded and black caressed with a frigid aura,
His robe tattered with the turning of time;
His face was hollow with the pitch of despair;
And into his hand, he grasped my shirt.
And lifted me to my feet.

In chariot we raced to ending unknown,
Passing billions of times, and lines, and generations;
Born away on the winds of the past,
On steeds of great stature; but black as the night.
I saw the fire of generations smothered by their smoke,
I saw the angles of ages bending;
But as I peered to unveiling fume,
I beheld an oak door at the end of the quest.

Through the threshold we stepped,
My captor’s mist soon followed;
And lo and behold a courtroom of grandeur,
But no jury, no life, no warm breath of light,
Only six hooded figures such as akin.
My captor stepped to his high chair at head,
And banged his gavel to silent abyss,
For an eternity the glared with no eyes one can say,
Into mine and darkness swallowed me.
But I did not yield, for as I;
Cocked my head to look away.

The oppressive silence was shattered as the figures spoke,
The Justices looked at me, and this they said:

“Thou does not go to heaven where some transcend,
Thou does not go to Elysium where great heros sing,
Nor to Styx where souls do swim,
Nor does thou go to creature to dwell within,
For thou does no wish for these things.

Thou does not go to nature in its earthy tomb,
Thou does not go to Shiva bringer of destruction,
Nor to Allah lord of the sands,
Nor does thou go to Ra to bask in his warmth,
For thou does not believe in these things.

Thou does not got to science in world’s own mystery,
Thou does not go to art to inspire with the muses,
Nor to freedom, and infinite universes,
Nor does thou go to light in its perpetual wanderance,
For thou does not know of these things.

Thou wishes for immortality,
To not endure the moment of suffering,
For rewards unfathomable to infinity itself.
Thou is weak and blinded by pride,
And a hand that won’t release;
So thou shalt get thy wish if that be just;
And thou will wither unendless, but change not;
Thou shalt not cease until infinity ceases.”

With its last word the courtroom vanished,
And I opened my eyes to a new light;
I was home again and strewn out on the floor,
But the light I beheld was unwholesome and thin.
And I lived on aging not,
Remaining in the shadows beyond all vision;
Witnessing ages die and wars brew up,
Until at last came the end of the path.

And for an instant fire engulfed the universe,
Swallowing planets, and stars, and all of life;
And in its death throws gurgled a brazen flame,
To its one ultimate folly.

And now as I drift through void of space,
In the end, Darkness I got.
</poem>
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