There are two deaths.
The first is the death the world knows12Please respect copyright.PENANAwlrWlxi5Rl
The falling asleep.12Please respect copyright.PENANAfLiFgwUFCB
The last breath.12Please respect copyright.PENANA7Rr8G2bxyu
The final wound, or surrender, or silence.
It comes in many shapes.12Please respect copyright.PENANATlebjjO6PR
The guests speak of it often.12Please respect copyright.PENANAzbjF9F2ake
Sometimes with fear.12Please respect copyright.PENANAo82ob6NhVn
Sometimes with relief.12Please respect copyright.PENANANkHseHazlF
Sometimes without knowing it has already passed.
That death comes for all.
But there is a second.
The deeper one.12Please respect copyright.PENANApK2JmxPFoQ
The crueler one.12Please respect copyright.PENANA9vnXyFDjE9
The one that takes longer, and hurts quieter.
It is the death that comes when there is no one left to say your name.12Please respect copyright.PENANA3uWExwtPkW
No one who remembers your voice, your hands, your laugh, your grief.12Please respect copyright.PENANAwqVmOID7qw
No one who remembers that you ever were.
And that, That is why I am here.
They think I serve drinks.12Please respect copyright.PENANAc6xdoAH3Wb
And I do.
They think I listen to stories.12Please respect copyright.PENANAWVUbAEyoBN
And I do.
But the truth, the purpose, the vow never spoken:
I remember.
I remember the names not said aloud.12Please respect copyright.PENANAmMB2WtHo3Y
The broken sentences.12Please respect copyright.PENANAgnbdTQ1AdR
The last words muttered into mugs.12Please respect copyright.PENANA19XBL6btmJ
The laughter that no one else witnessed.12Please respect copyright.PENANAHJCrEWAoIr
The quiet goodbyes guests were too afraid to say in the world outside.
And because I remember them, they are not gone.
They may fall.12Please respect copyright.PENANActsn7lMtFW
They may pass.12Please respect copyright.PENANA3aSmnKcK9o
But they are not erased.
Not while the tavern stands.12Please respect copyright.PENANAQTw7z1KKm1
Not while the fire burns.12Please respect copyright.PENANA0pIg7lfvDD
Not while I sit here, pen in hand, head bowed slightly, as I write their names without needing to ask.
Let kingdoms crumble.12Please respect copyright.PENANA9gqQEmftVE
Let stars go dim.
Here, even the forgotten are held.
And as long as one ember glows,12Please respect copyright.PENANANI9RcncCoQ
no soul will suffer the second death.
Not on my watch.
Not in this place.
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