Black Death
by asmiea · 27 October 2026 · Poetry
A plague-ridden warrior lies dying among corpses in a swamp and experiences a hallucinatory encounter with Odin, who beckons him into death. In a sudden shift, the scene transitions to a hospital, where the narrator realizes he is the stillborn child announced at the story's opening. The piece weaves Norse mythology with a surreal, circular meditation on fate and mortality.
“The child was born dead my lord”
The heretic had told me I would die. I take a deep breath. I already knew this. The plague has consumed my entire body and soul. Now, I lie among the corpses in the swamp, my hands locked around my sword, just like the fate I have spent my entire life trying to escape, a fate that refuses to let me go.
Nothing remains but darkness and violence. The wind strikes my face,carrying the stench of death.
The gods emerge from beneath the earth and drag me into the depths. They cover my eyes with their hands, then reach inside my skull and tear the life from my body.
I open my eyes.
Ravens circle above me, and a dead man dances over my head, laughing.
Odin Storkes my face with his hands and closes my eyes, He whispers into my ear: “ sleep, my child.”
Mud creeps up my legs.The earth opens its mouth and drags me into its depths, taking all my sins with me.
And the earth forgets my name.
I claw at tge ground. My nails break, my fingers sink in to the mud. With the last strength left in my body I push Odin's hands away.
My sword slips from my fingers. I hear it hi the ground.
Suddenly, the scene changes, and I'm in the hospital. And I realized that I am the dead child.
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