Siegfried

That is not it,
she said,
that is not what I meant at all.

Might I step back then?
he said, 
Behind the line that I just crossed?
The invisible barrier we both knew was there
but chose to see through -
it couldn't hold me forever
and I finally dared to step forward
to lay at your feet on the threshing floor.
May we return, you and I,
to the days when I would glean from
flaxen fields of grain
until the end of day
beneath vermilion dusk?

No, the gate has closed behind you,
she said,
and all has changed going forward,
behind you is a blurry mess,
and here is searing clarity.
This is where I'm supposed to be,
you run along.

No!
he said,
I didn't know I'd make it so far,
I don't know how to go on!
Arrival was the battle,
how unjust that I should take the field
just to make my grave here.
I cannot bear the shame,
my armor cannot hide me
and my sword is dulled.

Poor man,
I say,
who won't meet tomorrow
like he received today.
How wasteful,
how profane.
Slaying a wyrm to become a worm
all the same.