IMMORTALITY

By Ashraf Obansa

How can you kill me ?

How can you blot me out of existence ?

when pieces of me are everywhere

when pieces of my being

dwell within horcruxes I have created

out of ink and paper

out of ones and zeros

How can I die ?

whilst there are still people alive

who carry pieces of me in their hearts

whose souls have collaged with mine

the substance of our thoughts   have intertwined

And even when my body dies

and those who remember me are gone as well

and no one remembers my name

who I was or how I lived

what I was or when I was

still, I am resurrected    the very moment

a living human interacts with my horcrux

in parchment or in digits

he hears me in his head

and our minds meld

My voice will echo from the afterlife

as the substance of my mind

travels across time to the very moment

my art is seen, is read and is felt again

and I yet again cheat death

This is the immortality of art and artists

This is the elixir of immortality

sought by the kings and nobles of times past

Although the body may die and rot,

the mind and its produce can perpetuate its existence