Command of Death

My lord asks that I tap on heads
All those who are about to die,
They wait and wait and wait for me,
They plead looking up at the sky.

I bear no face and all the faces,
I hide nothing and come hidden,
I may not come even after decades,
Or come too soon unbidden.

My touch releases these mortal coils,
Some call me death, time or fate.
I rush to wars, but also to hearths,
You find me in wombs or out in space.

I hold no emotion against the crying.
I must do what I must do.
If I falter to some mother's tears.
I will no longer be blessed, be true.

So I resolve with iron breath,
Carefully before my tears freeze,
Not just to touch the tyrant's life,
But part fair maidens, swans, and fleas.

But one I see beyond this world,
How can something so good be gone.
I must touch her, even in prayer.
For more than most, even I must mourn.

Some so bright, the sun sets instantly,
Them when they go even the gods miss,
For them I don't lay my wicked fingers,
For them on their lips, I gently kiss.