Thulcandra

Tonight it all converges
The goodness of light and evil’s cold dark
Tonight the battle surges
As the moon hangs above, unfeeling and stark

Reality is truth too strange
For the finite words of men fading away
Patterns too great for us to arrange
Colors leak out leaving shadows of dreary

In the sky that spans our world
Unhuman banners are flung unfurled
We move unknowing, made small by our lies
Broken and bled by a life of goodbyes

The band of the faithful is few
Astonishing frail in the face of such power
But out of such dust, history grew
So they breathe deep the infinite that cannot cower

The battle is fierce death-bringer
Leaving blood as seed for a new earth
Still the song breaks free of the singer
Soaring with hope of the coming rebirth

All bad things must come untrue
For the silent planet robed in fragile blue
Covered in the living blood running red
Bound together by wine and by bread

Tonight we wait for a final fight
Watch from the windows as all falls away
Dawn will break the final night
So we learned how to run and still choose to stay

Tremulous reaching from silent to spoken
Infinite binding itself to space-time
Shattered hands that can heal all the broken
As the Word steps down into this place

Alive Still

Your music will be a battle drum
Your lullaby a wilding battle cry
Your toys will be our swords that grow dull
And your blanket will be death’s pall
Your blanket will be death’s pall

Your first step will follow soldier’s boots
Your hands will reach out for their spears
Your babbling be lost in the loud din of war
And you’ll fall asleep to battle lore
You’ll fall asleep to battle lore

Child of blood
Child of war
Let go of your childhood
Forevermore
I’ll sing you a song
Teach you to kill
So you may grow up
And be alive still

Your music will be the wild sharp wind
Your lullaby be the whispers of ghosts
Your home will be a cold prison cell
And your blanket will be death’s pall
Your blanket will be death’s pall

Your feet will follow the road of the dead
Your hands will learn the knives’ dance
Your words will be lost in blood chilling cries
And you’ll dream with wide awake eyes
You’ll dream with wide awake eyes

Call yourself fighter
Call yourself stranger
Offer the love
That could tie you down
You’ll sing a song
Though you know how to kill
That they may grow up
And be alive still

[Okay. Yes. This one is odd. I think it comes from listening to a lot of Heather Dale on youtube and watching End of the Spear in missions class. . Oh, yes, and HUM 103]

Lullaby

Wind the ribbon out around your fingers
Wind the light of stars around your eyes
Fall asleep in peace tonight
There’s nothing here to harm you

Wind blowing in the green leaves of the trees
Moonlight dancing on the quiet sea
Fall asleep in peace tonight
There’s nothing here to harm you

Close the doors against the world outside
Find this home safe space to hide
Fall asleep in peace tonight
There’s nothing here to harm you

Hush, little child, listen to the story
Wrapped secure in the strong ancient words
Go to sleep in peace tonight
There’s nothing here to harm you

Fractured pieces slowly touch
Frayed soul edges start to heal
Go to sleep, don’t be afraid
There’s nothing here to harm you

Tomorrow will come
The sunrise will come
You’ll wake to see it
All in due time…

Complex Apologies

From the city walls at twilight
She looked out on the land
Stars hung luminous and low
Nightfall darkening the sky.

Free from fear and free from fright
She walked along the parapet
Looking at the smoke that rose
All was still inside.

A shadow covered the horizon
The enemy’s last stand
It blotted out the brilliant stars
And her heart began to pound.

What is this Death that stalks my city?
Who will hear my cry?
Her aching hands had to let go
As she wept with bitter agony.

From the homes that burnt with flame
Billowed smoke that blocked her view
Where were the messengers of hope?
She wrestled with the desperate lie.

Waves broke on the far-off sand
Under blood-red sun that rose and set
Battleships put men on shore
And they ran to join the fight.

The countryside ran red with death
Swords rang striking hard
The day wandered toward its close
Field covered with slain.

They have fallen and will never stand
They are gone to not return
I could not keep them here
She said these things as she cried.

[This one isn’t done, yet… it has a highly complex rhyme scheme going, one that sets it up to be extremely long, as well as a good bit of flow of consciousness. However, as I’m not sure I’ll ever actually feel like finishing it, here ’tis.]

Who We Are

We are those who watched the stars fall
We are those who heard the sea
We built the now ruined wall
And we climbed the now felled tree.

We are those who walk in shadow lands
We are those who shout the cry
We stood upon the blazing sands
And we watched the loved ones die.

Death came on a sudden dark wave
It ripped out all we could not save
It crushed our hands and stole our dreams
As fabric torn with no seams.

The edges fray and whip in wind
Ashes mingle with the cinders
Sparks burn out and fires fade
Ruin all that we have made.

We are those who watched the light dawn
We are those who heard the hope song
We climbed upon the ruined wall
And we rebuilt the feasting hall.

We wage war in shadow lands
We are those with outstretched hands
We dive into the dark deep well
And we bring back the ones who fell.

Triumph came with the bright sunrise
Breathing restoration into all we lost
Enemies fell before His shining eyes
Victory bought with a terrible cost.

In His hands, the shattered heal
Morning breaks into the night
Frozen hearts begin to feel
And in the end, all will be made right.

Fall

They lay beneath the morning tree
He made daisy chains of stars
He wove them through her shining hair
As they danced content and free

They ran along the sunshine grass
To the waterfall that sang
She called the dancing light to her
And they didn’t know this was the last
And they didn’t fear the night

They swung from green-decked branches
They watched the mist of green
Dropped fragile seeds in rich brown earth
They rode fast and free by river’s edge
And did not fear what was unseen
Unknowing of tooth and claw
Unknowing of thorn and death

They ate the fruit of the forbidden tree
They hid behind the leaves
They shrank from the one who loved them most
As they slowly turned to dust

They ran along the shadow paths
To realms of nightmare dark
She cried out with coming pain
And they had broken all their realm
And they had traded it in vain

They fled from the lost paradise
They watched the sword aflame
Knew that the way home had been lost
They were covered then with death
And all the paths were closed to them
Unopened for a thousand years
Unopened till the morning star.

She

She danced beneath the wilding moon
And she sang beneath the spinning stars
Skin flushed dark by blazing sun
Hair tangle-woven by living wind
And her feet sank deep into the dirt
And her fingers felt the sliding water

She was a lover
A warrior princess
Ever a child, yet woman too

She sat beside the burning fire
And she walked the darking paths
Scars cut deep by words of pain
Spirit crushed in shadow’s death
And her blood ran red with broken breath
And her tears dripped salt with quiet grief

She was a dreamer
A story keeper
Ever breaking, yet grace full too

She breathed with the throbbing drum
And she wept with the bitter drink
Hands raised high in full surrender
Body tight with sudden fear
And her soul broke joy in sunshine delight
And her breath sang pain with homesick ache

She was a watcher
Daughter laughter
Ever shadows, yet light as well

Lost in an Alternate Universe

Breath caught hard against this
Spun-into universe of interlinked corridors
Grey light filtered through
Veined translucent stone skylights
Walls of blocks of stone
Chilly and smoothed eerily clean
In the middle is a pitcher
Black and heavy
A basin to match
Filled with clear water
Letting the darkness show through
Fraught with pinpoint light of stars

[This one is probably not done; it’s basically a scene description in poetic format…ish… something like that.]

name: darkness to light

darkness.
she ran through a dark dark universe; dark empty space, dark crowds of people on sunshine lit blocks.
running although she knew it was to no avail, because you can never escape who you are.
the names haunted her, the stringing of sounds too woven with pain to let herself be called them again. pushing away, pulling back from who she is not.
not all were given with intent to hurt, shaping instead. thrown with a smile, right for their time. but no longer, and so hard to get free from.
behind her the ground fell away, stars obscured by the tears which darkened her eyes, stole her breath.
alone and weary, broken too badly in being brought back to life, the night around clung, stretching infinite space…
light.
split through the empty, breaking time and space. one single strand woven too strong to shatter.
grace that hounds, through places and ages, will not be diverted. spoken with power as that same first word, now no less pervasive.
name means belonging, and we don’t name ourselves.
creatures of dust not strong enough to hold who we are breathed into life by glorious spirit. washed into mud by the waters of baptism; mud to heal a blind man’s eyes, built from your spit, from your word alone.
name.
all shattered pieces with sharp edges that cut, thrown together in agony pain. covered with blood and water, dying to feed the wheat which will grow. and the vines of the grapes. and the grafted-in. ground back to atoms and grown by strong fingers on the spinning clay wheel of a potter. vessels for glory, treasures in clay, boldness found in the weakest of all.
abused and mistreated, called with anger and hate. till the soundwaves scream chaos and we run away. hide behind leaves of the trees where we fell, waiting for sunshine and quiet to come. the king’s hands are healing and we lie beneath, still sickened by plague that we cannot escape.
from the edge of the death lands a voice called her back. talitha, kumi. sword of a warrior, she sprang to his hand. his smile burns light, arms strongest fortress, brother triumphant, conquering sovereign.
tears.
weakness of death drowned all over again, brilliant colours of light dancing promised remembrance.
promised redemption, from all of the shadows still haunting and aching and etching.
and life forever, longing fulfilled for the beauty of all the created and more the creator.
caught in one word, divine fiat…
light.

Oceans

The oceans have run dry beneath this drought for which we prayed
Not knowing any other way that we could stay safe
From the overwhelming rains

The stars have been extinguished by the dark in which we hide
Not knowing how hard it is to wake up without the light
To come alive

We asked for what we knew not of
Was there a better thing to pray?
Sometimes there are no good answers
And all that you can say
Is not how it should be

The thunder has been muted by this silence we imposed
Not knowing how empty rings lack of resonance
Shut away from song

The clay vessels have been shattered by the fires we set to flame
Not knowing they’d break too deeply to carry still a name
Whose are they now?

We asked for what we knew not of
Was there a better thing to pray?
Sometimes there are no good answers
To the questions we must ask
And we are left alone