Everything turns out alright in the end.
That is what the world is built on.

At least on pages. One man tries
to tell another how fiction is the best
salve for the weary and wronged.

Love is best achieved in a word—
a glance.

A man can learn how to metamorph
into his own legend.

The pen endows the creator with
the power of God.

There is something enjoyable about
attaching new names to old ghosts.
And there is nothing as euphoric
as exorcising them in crafted reality.

Because in the end, what really happened
gets submerged in everyday conspiracies
and creative memory. All that is left
is a tale told in lyrical streams that have
already eroded the truth of the matter.

And this why, the man says
there is nothing as seductive as story.

06/26/2005

Author's Note: Italicized lines are quoted from an English translation of The Master and Margarita. Poem written in response to Ian McEwan's Atonement.

Posted on 07/04/2007
Copyright © 2025 Ashley Lane