A Shadow Wrapped In Skin

The devil struck a deal with me, and death forgot my name,

I swore I’d roam eternally, untouched by time or pain.

It filled my heart with reckless joy—what man would wish to die?

But now I know why bargains made with devils end in lies.

No sickness burned within my bones, nor age upon my face,

While others bowed to fleeting years, I stood in time’s embrace.

I watched the world rise and fall, while I remained the same,

A witness to the centuries—a ghost without a grave.

But as the years passed along, a shadow filled my soul

What is strength without an end? A life without a goal?

What am I to leave this world if I can never leave?

Why must masses pass away, and I am left to grieve?

I lingered long by silent tombs, where even titans fall,

How many of my blood I've buried, I cannot recall

Mother, father, siblings, friends—all my kin and kith

Now have their names engraved in stone, their memory; just a myth

The stars above still shine the same, though none recall my face,

The echoes of my laughter lost, dissolved in time and space.

Statues crumble, empires fall, yet here I still remain,

A relic cursed to roam the earth, untouched by loss or pain.

But pain is not in flesh alone—it festers in the mind,

A gnawing grief, a hollow ache, for all I've left behind.

For every soul I've come to love, for every bond I've made,

The years have torn them from my grasp, while I am left—unscathed.

The devil smirked when first we met, his bargain laced with lies,

He promised me eternity, but not the tears and sighs.

If death had only known my name, I might have learned to grieve,

But sorrow, too, has turned to dust—I cannot even weep.

So here I stand, a man unmade, a shadow wrapped in skin,

A relic bound to tread the earth where endings should have been.

And as the world spins on anew, with voices fresh and fair,

I wonder if I’d take the deal—if offered once again.

But now I turn to you, my friend—if fate called out today,

And placed before you endless life, untouched by rot or fray,

Would you embrace eternity, defy the final breath?

Or would you walk the path of men, and make your peace with death?