Because they could not stop for Death
He kindly stopped for them
He offered a chance to strip the trance
And view oblivion

He came upon the coward first
A redhead, dressed in blue
The frightened man waved his white flag
For what else could he do?

The Reaper showed him all there was
All the coward's fears
Earthquakes, plague, war and death
The coward broke in tears

The next one was the soldier
Of green and blue and blonde
The Reaper asked if he would look
Upon infinity and beyond

The soldier heard the coward's cries
And ran straight to his side
For he knew all there was to know
Of war, of death, and genocide

A stoic came upon the scene
His eyes and hair were black
He saw the shinigami then
And tried to fight it back

But the stoic was not perfect
His past was filled with blood
The Reaper tore down all his walls
And left him in the mud

It was then a hero arrived
He could not talk - just shout
At his arrogance, the Reaper struck
And began to call him out

The hero fell down to his knees
His foundation was war
He'd killed more innocents than he'd saved
So many deaths - what for?

The Lord of Death could not believe
What lay beneath his eyes
He had expected so much more
And now was sadly surprised

The gentleman was not amused
He leapt upon his feet
Their achievements, surely, he protested
Would make this obsolete!

The Reaper sadly shook his head
Who was this man to talk?
For he had killed and bombed and enslaved
Yet hid behind cliffs of chalk

Death now found the pervert
Who offered him a rose
The Reaper turned it down just for
The safety of his clothes

Beauty was but just a mask
The wine, the land, the love
Hid darkness in the pervert's heart
Which came from below and above

The Reaper now looked down in shame
Six men lay on the ground
He had expected so much more
But nothing redeeming was found

An enraged wise man then arrived
His bound hair billowing in tow
He was the eldest, so everything
He did already know

Death was not impressed by this
The wise man bore no might
His history had the most turmoil
His bark no longer had bite

The others defeated so quickly,
The mad one tried his hand
The Reaper was not frightened for
This was what he had planned

While physically the strongest one
The mad one's mind was weak
As Death burrowed into his mind
Insanity reached its peak

The Reaper, now, was some how sad
He had expected more
His hand was offered once again
To lead beyond the door

He said that he could bring them peace
The sanctity of death
With his assistance, they'd be safe
No longer drawing breath

They had all been through too much
No mortal's experience
Could compare to their suffering combined
So he offered deliverance

The immortals paused in their reply
Uncertain what to say
Were they finally going to die?
Was this their Promised Day?

The coward and his soldier friend,
The stoic and hero
The gentleman, the pervert too,
Wise man with madman in tow

The Reaper had exposed their minds
With frightening precision
Without a word, their minds were made
A unanimous decision

Yes, they had all suffered much
And yes, their lives were tough
And it was true that some of them
Had more than quite enough

But all of them had families
And friends whom they would miss
Their people and leaders needed them
So they denied Death's bliss

Their hardships made them stronger
So they were there to stay
Their bonds were strong - nothing they knew
Could tear these bonds away

It wasn't the life that they preferred
And not one they'd chosen
But if they were to leave now
Their homes would then be frozen

Death was stunned by their reply
Never turned down before
But they could not last forever
He would be back, he swore

Once he was gone, the men went home
Returned to family and friends
And none of them bore any fear
For their eventual ends

Because they could not stop for Death
He'd kindly stop for them
And on that day, no more delay
They'd reach oblivion.

Hi, I'm Rainy Meadows! You may remember me from such works of fanfiction as Hitting the Bar, The Hetalian Job and Draw a Circle: That's Your Soul. I hope you enjoyed this little bit of randomness and I welcome any thoughts that you may have about my first non-crossover Hetalia fic... sort of. Thank you for reading and have a pleasant day!