The God of Fate and the God of Free Will
Found themselves in a bar
Will said, “Let’s get drunk tonight.”
Fate replied, “We already are.”
Chaos pulled up a chair
Grabbed Fate’s cup and held it high
But did not take a drink
He’d been hanging out with Death all night
Arguing about
The relative size of their powers
And wasn’t done yet
Fate declared the issue moot
As none were greater than she,
“I set the scene, you all act within
man or god, this is my roost.”
then grabbed her glass
From Chaos grip
And swallowed it all in a single sip.
Free Will scoffed
Puffed his chest
with a wave dismissed her boast,
“You may set the stage,
But I direct this play.
Not a word uttered or step taken
Unless I give permission.”
This went on for quite awhile
They started quite a row
The other gods
Staked their claims
As the very best most awesome example
Of the grand divine ever known
The more they argued, the more they drank
And soon a brawl ensued.
Death and Chaos destroyed some stuff
While Hedonism took a beating and laughed
the God of Love just appreciated everyone
While Thor and Poseidon made quite a mess
out of the gender neutral lavatory
Then Gaia grew quite irritated
Called up all the barroom molds and fungi
Grew them a hundred times their size
And cocooned everybody in a fungal wrap
Father Time sat quietly
Watching all that passed
Till even he lost patience
And rose to the occasion
Skin grey like his long beard
He stood nearly as tall
cleared his throat, politely
and all ceased to move
The air paused mid breeze
Photons froze upon their waves
All eyes had turned
All breath abated
To learn what Time would tell.
“You each hold sway
Over things small and great
It can not be denied
But when I decide
The show is over
You will get no curtain calls.
“I fathered all of you
And mothered you as well.
Every one of you are siblings
To the dust between the stars
And the microbes on Mars
And the stupid little humans
On whose worship you thrive
For Time is the patriarch
Of all that you know.
“Do not waste my gift to you
Bickering over pride
Jockeying for a position
You can never hold
Embrace what you’re allotted
This is not a competition
There is no final prize
Just a story to unfold
And only I
know how it goes.”
Then he was gone
In a puff of smoke
To manage the border
between now and never
The other gods all sat down
To contemplate their limits
Finally Fate looked at Will and said
“I guess that was inevitable.”
They all had a laugh
Poured another glass
And drank to Armageddon.