Poem #14: Santiago

That self righteous bastard ran through this town,
Breaking my heart and stealing my sheep.

The wizened eyes that saw his good are closed,
And his influence is gone, leaving me alone,
Leaving me with nothing, no treasure, making
Me the fool, his lost unquenching drink of water.

How could I believe in a boy, not even a man,
Who could believe not only in me, but in fate,
And oppose his own destiny, speaking in truth
To the stars that are only mute to my kind?

I suppose he is happy now, or dead, but I don’t
Think, and I don’t mind, that he never returned,
I just wonder, if he loved so much, then why,
Tell me why his heart was so selfishly cold?

I thought that I wanted his treasure, tantalizing
And glowing luminescent at dusk, only to be
Trashed and burned, slaughtered at dawn, and
Lost forever, when the pyramid sun set on him.

I hope he died in the desert and his bones were chewed,
I hope that the pyramids crumbled down onto his lying body,
I hope that he remembered the simple merchant’s daughter.

He came to town and took my sheep forever,
And I didn’t get any of his damn treasure.


***
This poem is written as a response to the book The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho. It's from the viewpoint of the merchant's daughter who the main character, Santiago, is completely in love with, until he leaves and totally forgets her, despite the fact that he has been trying to get with her for years. I thought she'd probably be pissed, but she's not given a voice in the story at all.