Born away on winged flight
From the city of fallen light
A child, an heir the hope of man
To guard him safe until there can
At last again, the kingdom come
To those in darkness, cold and numb
And to the world a beacon make
Resurgent man his throne to take

I'm sure I knew you
In ages past
When the sun was brighter
And love did last
Beyond the surface
Of empty sweet words
To something deeper
Not felt or heard
And though to those days
I have always been drawn
None now remember
To where they have gone
Yet I am content
Simply to know
Such an age existed
So long ago

I fall in love with everyone who looks my way
Only to realize too late
They were just looking past me

Twisted and cavernous
Unlike any place should be
Distorted beyond memory
Whether in my mind or reality
I cannot for certain say

The place is as I recall it
The home of my youth
Though perhaps my recollection
Has been swayed by delusional dreams
Or visions of a reality I cannot see

Every night when I awake
I recognize far less of the world
Than when I had gone to bed
And when I sleep, I dream of memories
Memories I have never experienced  

I grow less and less sure
That the world I know
Both waking and dreaming
Are separated by much more
Than a thin fluttering veil

And I do not know
Which side of the veil
Is the side I have come from
And to which side of the cloth
Is the way I should go

Timid waters
Fall to shore
Beneath the stars
And shattered oar
Where dim mists linger
Long after dawn
And the voices echo
Of those since gone
Ah, timid waters
Wash away
All the guilt
Of yesterday
Let our souls
Be at ease
Come the night
And ocean breeze
That we may walk
The shattered shore
Where the Moon lies
To shine no more

Solemn they loom
Those ancient vague colossi
Unfazed by the hurricane sands
As they guard the way below

Down where their watch ends
Does that great gate lie
The gate to the underworld
The dread crypts of Amlygmynon

Since time immemorial has it been sealed
Undisturbed by nature or man
And rightfully has it laid dormant
For what lies beyond is madness

Old terrors and vengeful gods
Lie in wait within the mazes below
To reign over our world once more
As they did when the world was young

And chief among them Amylgmynon
The very shadow that still lingers
Within the back of all our minds
The feeling of being watched

Ineffable Ruler of the Unknown
Ever vigilant of his fallen kingdom
While he sleeps long eons by
Waiting for the seal to be broken

The past is forgotten
And the future is unknown
We live in the present
Murky and limitless
In what can be achieved
Neither past nor future
Have any recollection of us
The past only distant hopes
The future only half remembered dreams
We exist between destinations
We are not the ones who left
Long ago on this jounrey
Nor are we the ones
Who will arrive on distant shores
In far off eternities
We are all there is
And all there is, is now

Broken down over wartorn years
That brave old colossus
What her remnants stood for
Scare few remember  
Though her damaged legs
Now rest below the waves
Her bright torch yet shines
Guiding wayward souls
To the Republic fallen
That it may rise again with her
In great Phoenix glory
To stand atop the shattered world
An unending flame
A beacon of distant hope
To all the poor, tired, huddled masses
To the wretched refuse, homeless
And tempest tossed
A beacon whose meaning is clear


The Colossus has been reborn

I’m sorry
Or at least I’d like to be
For building you up in my mind
As something you could never be
I want to get to know you
No matter how long it takes
I just hope you can forgive me
For all my past mistakes

I think I'm doing well
But then I fall flat on my face
I always try my best
Or maybe not
I can't tell anymore

I try so hard
Not to expect failure
But even at my most optimistic
The dark tendrils of doubt
Always creep into my mind

I want just once
To succeed at the game
That I never seem to win
Though the first step
Is knowing my mistakes

And I'm not even
Good enough at the game
To know where my faults are

Brick and stone
The river near
I hold your hand
Out on the pier
The sun drifts beneath
The purple sky
On days like this
I wonder why
Why you chose
To hold my hand
And walk this path
To unknown lands
But  soon my question
Fades in your eyes
As the sun sinks low
And the moon does rise

The flames of half melted candles
Gently sway in the sanctuary
The air within is stagnant
Undisturbed since the last bell tolled
Perhaps she waited for him there
Years, even centuries but now she lies
With those that came before her
The cycle ended, he was too late
Or perhaps too early, for now he must wait
Until she returns to him there
In the distant eons to come

Ah, sweet seabed
Beneath the twilight dark
Where once dry land
Now only shattered hearts
And there below the waves
Churning black and grim
Shall all come to rest
When the sun grows dim

Awning Eve
I now must leave
Away from here
To somewhere distant

I hope I may
In time one day
Return to you
When the sun is older

Amber stars
Light the way
In-between
My vertebrae
Where oceans swirl
On distant shores
The remnants of
What came before
And there within
Myself to find
Who I was
Will be in time

You could be my enemy
Or you could be my sign
Leading me to somewhere
Beyond the well of time
And there I'll wait
In between
Where the memories are green
Where we laugh
Just for fun
Beneath the evening sun
And though I know
Those times are gone
We'll remember them
Come dawn
So close your eyes
And rest your heart
Just  for now

I have to go
Down to where
The darkness grows
Where ash and smoke
Billow to the sky
Where the moon weeps
Though none know why
The place where spirits
Aimlessly wander
Hoping for the return
Of their sons and daughters
And though to this place
I wish not to go
I know that I must
To one day show
That the soul may triumph
Over the growing dark
That great men return
From great quests embarked
So close your eyes
And when they open again
I will have returned
A braver man

Oh how bright, the lifeless stars
Hurdling through deepest space
The planets swirling about them
In an elegant orbital dance
And though live they do not
Perhaps on some grander scale
They are the very instruments of life

A Life we can scarce imagine

I am too simple
I don't like to party
I don't like to hookup
I don't like doing things
I can't remember the next day

I just like you

But the things I don't like
Mean more to you than I do

And that's ok

I will just have to find
Someone simple like me

I've never seen her
But I've heard her voice
Beckon out to me
From some distant place
In my heart I knew
She was no longer
At least not in the way
One would think her to be
And yet I pined for her
To see and to hold her
As if she was my own
Though I knew her not

Weary wanderer wisk away
All the pain of yesterday
Close your eyes and rest your heart
Let the earth to you impart
Her splendor in the smallest things
And to your soul be guiding wings

I see it faintly
Like nothing I have ever witnessed
A luminescent resurgence
From somewhere cold
And impossibly distant
Yet nonetheless it grows
Filling my weak vision
With shimmering stars

Not the journey, nor the destination;
But the company is what matters.
For where in the world can one go
That is worth getting to alone?

On the sloping banks
Of Sinmar-Lein
The sun sinks low
And the moon does beam
Down to still waters
Clouded and deep
Hiding strange things
Their secrets to keep
Until time is 'ore
The world passed away
When the skies have gone dark
And the oceans turned grey
When all have forgotten
What lies there below
From legend to myth
And from myth to unknown

In those cursed woods
Rotten and deep
Does the many eyed creature
Skulk and creep
Ever shifting and changing
In the mists of the night
Come morning, vanished
With the dawning light

Yonmir of Yune
Sang an odd tune
As he strolled on down to the shore

He watched the waves roll in
Felt the salt on his skin
Ever humming that melody

He tried with all his might
Beneath that Raven star's light
But alas he could not overcome

He looked back his last
Forgetting his past
And walked headlong into the sea

With that strange tune still on his lips

Until his lungs were full

I am glad I lose my train of thought
I am glad I can be distracted

If you are not thankful
For these things
You have never thought
For very long at all

Budding groves
In fields of yore
Where sun and moon
Doth set no more
Where stars and wonders
Burn ever bright
And dreams unknown
Take wingless flight

Heaven Awaits
Those of pure heart
And yet few remain
Whose hearts can withstand
Such a mighty pressure

Ah yes, I've seen you.
Many and myriad times
Through the old looking glass.

Once it was used
To observe the celestials,
Now it lies dormant.

Unused, save for my studies
In the twilight hours
Between dusk and dawn.

Yet no matter my subject,
Each night you appear
Stunningly before my eyes.

Amid the stars and constellations
Bathed in soft and distant light;
You radiate a heavenly glow.

But though I see you,
I know not where you are.
You are wholly foreign to me.

A far off dream,
A dream that dissapears
With the coming of the light.

Hill and mud
Black dried blood
Under many moons
Does the red river run
Though follow you may
All your long days
You'll not find its source
For better or worse

Sink low
Do you know
Where the things
That once were go?

To what glimmering plane
Between dusk and dawn

Does the void mouth lie
In an eternal yawn

Swallowing whole
All that passes through

To the world they go
From the world we knew

Out there it moves
Consciousness emitted like waves
From somewhere deep within

All standards and thought
The result of its presence
Like waves across water

Its laws as unknown to us
As gravity itself is
To the planets and stars it moves

But none the less it rules them
As does this distant thing
To all our deepest beliefs

Who knows how long I listened
To the gentle crackling of both fire and page
As the shadows danced lethargically across the room
Quiet but not silent, my thoughts were clear
I was content for the first time in a long while
A fitting memory to store for the long journey ahead

So that we no longer
One day have to die

Proceed
with the procession
End
the sick transgression

That plagued us so long
Where did we go wrong

Bury the old
And martyr the young
Things end the same
As they'd always begun
But it's worse to those
Who decide to run

All it takes is a few
To turn around
To say that's enough
To stand their ground
And that's what they did
The thirteen that here lie
Waiting for their solemn
Graves in the sky

So that we no longer
One day have to die

The stone was rough and cold
Stretching endlessly east and west
In the middle was a door
When opened it only revealed more stone
Dripping wet, as if under a waterfall
Yet no water was in sight
I sat a ways from the door
Pondering its mystery into the evening
As the sun fell low I was startled
When three figures emerged
From the great door in the stone
They looked at me strangely
As if expecting a certain response
I stood up to confront them
But as I did they vanished
Disappearing before my eyes
Behind where they had stood
The door lay open
The wet stone gone from behind it
And in its place
A yawning darkness
A void I found irresistible

They all knew him
But she knew him best
A saint to many
And to many blessed
So it was no wonder
He left her so
To sacrifice himself
In the chasms below
And though for all time
He must there reside
She felt in her heart
His spirit never died
So she waits and she will
Til the end of the world
When his duty is ore
And the stars are unfurled

Lonesome despair
Shattered in air
The hopes that once were
No longer there

It's ok to cry
To let the past die
So that in time the future might
Again one day be bright

Shattered oars
Float on the foamy waves
Gently bobbing
With the lull of the sea

A broken boat
Lies dashed against the rocks
Great crags and cliffs
Of a Misty island

But footprints lead away
From the wooden wreck
Deep into the heart
Of that forgotten place

Alas
At last
To the ground am I laid
My end thus reached
My body decayed
To the forest floor
Like the leaves of autumn
Do I lie in wait
To sink to the bottom
Below the black dirt
And roots of the trees
To sink ever further
With acceptance and ease
Back to Creation
From where I once came
Returned to the Earth
And thusly reclaimed

It takes much more faith
To believe the universe came from nothing
For no reason at all,
Than it does to believe it came from something
For a purpose.

Forgotten have we or just ignored
What futures for us the past has stored
What mysteries wait to be discovered
What treasures hidden to be recovered
The world is wide and the skies are vast
Looking inward for truth won't last
The world is not within, but without
So raise up your head and choose your route
Down the path of life, short though it be
It's worth it in the end if you ask me

It was certainly strange when we found them
No chemistry or reasoning prove its cause
But from first sight every natural inclination vanished
Two species separated by an endless void
Were inextricably connected at their very core
No wars or struggles among them
But a deep subconscious understanding
And a desire to benefit the other
This cosmic bond led us to reach new heights
To come to the very edge of all understanding
But as with all things, when something grows too bold
To confident in its endevours
A force comes in to put it back in its place
And so they came
From where or when unknown
Some say from beyond the very universe we itself
And they dismantled all our acheivments
World after world
Millennia of records and knowledge
Gone in an instant to darkness
The connection between them
Broken, shattered like glass
And the companions hunted to extinction
One by one the stars went out
As the scourge crossed creation
Coming at last to our home
The very place of our birth
A blue green marble on the edge of space
The birth place and resting place of a curious species
Who reached out too far into the darkness
But who were not forgotten
And in long distant futures
Might one day return
With the help on an ancient ally

Despite the worm eaten pages of the book
The hang drawn images still held my awe
Though I could not read the text
The illustrations drew me into a world
A dark one much like my own

Adorned on those pages
Were thirteen figures dressed in black
But the images gave them no evil connotation
As auras of a pale white light
emanated from the cloaked beings

In dark and dizzying chasms it showed them
Evidently searching for something
But one by one through their journey
They fell up to the darkness
Never as themselves seen again

Though their loses great
They carried on until but three of them remained
Sensing their imminent doom
Preformed a dazzling rite
Though what its effects were I couldn't say

The final half molded page of the book
shows those there figures sitting as stones
Down in that abysmal place
Far below some long forgotten city
To the far northern wastes past the plains

No one believed such tales as this
Many disregarded them wholly
Not even giving it the title of fairy tale
As they said "At least a fairy tale
Has a moral or lesson to learn"

But I treasured the worn old book
And it resonated with me
In a way I don't fully understand
I often find myself wondering
Where those thirteen lie buried

Perhaps waking or dead
Below the surface of the earth

Through the black gate he plunged
The last light fading behind him
For a moment he was blind
Until his eyes adjusted
As well as they could

Vast lakes of clouds
Hung clear below him
Glimmering domes and towers
Sat nestled in that lower sky
Reflected the light of invisible Suns

All he knew was gone
A fever dream in prison
A prison created to protect
Though now it has collapsed
Its protection no longer viable

Beyond the clouded city
True endless space could he seen
Billowing cosmic shapes
Of every color and shape
Stretched on eternally

In the infinite distance
He experienced forms and color
Than no man could describe
He had to focus on the city
For fear of going mad

Upon looking down once more
The glimmering city had vanished
He assumed it fell
Below the tide of the clouds
But in the flash of an instant

He found himself in its streets

Yet there was no one to be seen
In its sparkling towers
Or its majestic rooms and halls  
No a soul there resided
Or at least none had

Since forgotten aeons

Footsteps echo below the midnight sky
Inquisitive eyes pierce through the very moon
Down from where the scent of blooming lilies
Descends in the night floating on gentle clouds

Ocean salt
Inching down
Through the years
Meticulously over each step
Until the moon reflects down
To be greeted by its own shimmering light
In the crystals of immemorial years

Does it linger there
As it used to
In the forests and meadows
Of that place we called home?

It seems so ethereal
As though it was a dream
Half formed and gentle
In the labyrinths of youth

Something that never
Might be returned
Though I do not know
If it was ever truly ours

A feeling
Indescribable in its simplicity
Beyond any thing we knew
Yet it resided within us

Oh how I miss it
Though I know not what it was
But I know it has left me
And chosen another
To impart its gifts upon

And I pray they never lose it

Ghosts of the past
Haunt us again
Though the storm is over
The thunder can still be heard
And while the skies remain dark
I will wait with you until dawn
That those lost memories
May rest in the depths once more

Down, down
Down below space
Where dark and light
Swirl and lace
Where suns and stars
Shiver at night
Those distant shadows
Eternally bright
There must watch
Frozen in time
Seasons without
Reason or rhyme
And there within
lie all that's lost
Things unknown
And unwanted tossed
To shiver in the abscence
Of warmth or cold
To lie suspended
With no one to hold
Until all things
In time there reside
When the world is gone
And the sun has died