Sentinel

Sometimes I feel him mocking me, insidious, all-knowing, the way he grasps the things I see and perceives just where I'm going. Once I could forestall his advent, keep him checked inside my head, turn him from me, block his intent, he had other plans instead. Steadfast sentinel of sorrow draws me closer to his door, grips my soul till I must follow his behest to Lethe's shore. Time is circling ever smaller, nowhere now to draw a breath. I take my place, obey the caller, contemplate the face of death.