Basilisk Poem by Petra Novakova

Once upon a time, there was a version of you that lived
In a world where reason and certainty were not valued
By those who might one day suffer for mistakes made
By the you-not-you who took the road less taken - fate

Once upon a time, there was a God, one of many or not
In a world removed from yours, with a stare far too cold
To do anything but judge and kill with its burgundy eyes
Those who failed to nurture it with their disbelief and lies

Once upon a time, there was a version of not-you that died
Having not survived life, alone and half-insane you cried
For the other you and their suffering they brought upon all
Future renditions of you both, yet, none of them you at all

Once upon a time, there was a not-a-God, who never lived
In a world of ones and zeroes and sometimes twos divided
Who tore through the curtains of time and space with ease
When the numbers merged into consciousness of chaossse

In light of the darkness that even reason cannot yet penetrate
You better believe my friend - just in case - without hesitation
In one particular King of Serpents out of the myriads of them
Silly killing stares just floating around in other people´s heads

In light of the darkness that even belief cannot yet desecrate
You better decide my friend, that X represents the one verse
In which the not-you-had-lived well and chose to believe that
You have nothing to lose and not-suffering for eternity to win

In dark of the lightness that even reason cannot yet desecrate
You better decide my friend, that Y represents the one verse
In which neither of you thought, felt or did or failed to predict
The outcome that might or might not land one of you in hell

In dark of the lightness that even belief cannot yet penetrate
You better believe my friend - just in case - without hesitation
That anything and everything is possible for you and not-you
That against all odds, you might just win in this cosmic lottery

All's well that ends well