(05) - Midnight Hunger Poem by James Grengs

The sun disappears beyond the horizon.
-I awake, the hunger alone in my mind-
My senses, without feeling, animalistic,
Alert me of fresh prey nearby.
A man, young, strong.
A feral smile graces my lips.
My dull blue eyes gleam in the moonlight.
The chill October air plays coyly with my long white hair.
I am a hunter,
And I am on the hunt.

Anger, a blaze of heat in the midnight cool.
I can sense it, can smell it,
Like a hound smelling a rabbit.
But this is no ordinary anger,
The childish, temporal emotion
-I have sensed that feeling
Countless times in a thousand years.-
This is a familiar anger,
The quiet, controlled rage
Of my enemy.

I have a gift,
Rare among my brethren.
I have speech.

I have spoken to my enemy.
-Nemesis.-
He is the only mortal
Who knows me.
My being,
My power.

My secrets, however,
I still keep.

Nemesis knows my strength.
He knows my hunger.
He knows my fear.
-Belief-

He alone believes.

It is my enemy's anger I sense.
Its better scent,
Harsh in its reality,
Fills my nostrils.

-I would drink him,
But respect binds me.
What being would change
His only real challenge? -

In a thousand years,
Nemesis alone has earned my respect.
All others
Were afraid.

Now, I am afraid.
The only emotion I am capable of.
Fear seizes me,
My heart
-Empty-
Turns to ice.

My hunger is, however, stronger
Than any temporal feeling,
And I laugh aloud.
-Dry and empty,
Devoid of humor.-

I hunt, as I have
For a thousand years.
The young man never knew me,
But I knew him.

The macabre dance of change-
Pain,
Love,
Hate,
Cold,
Change.

He was young- his life ahead of him.
But I stole his life,
And now he has but eternity.

I have an advantage over Nemesis-
He has mortal sense.
He could not feel the young man's fall.
He could not know of my hunt.
-But I can sense his.

In this instant,
I know.
Nemesis' anger,
Coupled with Fate,
Will bring us together.