1. THANATOPSIS

When last I sit upon this dull chair
I watch the movement of the celestial eternity
And provoke my final thoughts upon the darkened night
With chilled breath, the spirit burns my throat, my heart, my thought
The wind is longer at my back
The fog is my bereaving shroud
When thoughts of the last bitter hour come like a blight
Over thy spirit, and sad images of the stern agony, and shroud, and pall
And breathless darkness make thee to shudder, and grow sick at heart
Go forth, under the open sky
Listen to Nature’s teachings
From Earth and her waters, and the depths of air comes a still voice
Wait a few days, and the all-beholding sun shall see no more
Within the cold ground, where thy pale form was laid
Nor in the embrace of ocean, shall exist thy image
Requiring breath, you soak in what still remains, knowing that at the cusp of the void
There is still a sense of longing, a tired hope, a need for a beyond
Play that against the knowing that eternity is an illusion
Being is like that of oak, strength, weakened, wrought with decay
Height, shortened, truncated by time, beauty withered, years bring dust
But still I stand, and nature shan’t claim a price until reckoning
Earth, that nourished thee, shall claim thy growth, to be resolved to earth again
And, lost each human trace, surrendering up
Thine individual being, shalt thou go to mix forever with the elements
When thy remains rest buried or your countenance and body are ash
With chilled breath, the spirit burns my throat, my heart, my thoughts
The only trace is memory and even that fades
Even that dies


2. THE APEX OF HUMAN SORROW

Call me the raven or call me the fog
But when I am reborn you’ll hear naught but a whisper
I damn the incompetence and complacency
That has allowed blood to enter the stagnant water in our wells
I condemn all who oppose the individual
And an effort to comply with thoughtless tradition
Indoctrination through poor allegiances
Kept not with nature, but with greed
I reject your wealth
I reject your soulless attempts to integrate
Vengeance burns my heart and though my fate has been rebuked
I alone am the bringer of shade
The shadow shall envelope all
Whereupon this planet we exist the planet shall exist despite us
We may destroy what we have yet what we have is larger than all
But time has run short
So burn, burn down your temples
Burn down your citadels
Burn down your ideals
And tremble at the weight of your denied expectations
I have stolen the hammer and put god on his knees
In chains I left the angels, their swords lay rusted and broken
The river has flooded, blood runs through the fields
Pitch and ash all around, naught is left but ruin
Sulphur and tears mix as human suffering reaches its apex
And as nightfall grasps the landscape
Respite is out of reach


3. SHADE OF MEMORY

It returns, the memory
I feel it, coursing through my veins
I pour a glass, and drink to life but dream of death, a kiss from beyond
My dreams are iron, but my hopes are fog, my quest to deny what fate creates
It returns, the memory, I feel it coursing through my veins
It is lost, through the smoke, fading beneath the waves
Cool, I feel the northern breeze
Thin, the air it chills my bones, yet I find a shelter in these thoughts
Bleed, bleed out your dream
Curse, curse your own name
Shriek, against the sky- the clouds only bring change
I reserve but a shade of memory, I will destroy by my hand
I rip to shreds what you think is real and reveal the emptiness behind
The womb shall reveal the blade to pierce the soul of iniquity
In bringing death and bringing hurt, vacuous existence ends in pain
To breathe life into the empty, to seek spiritual in the unholy
I try to find the right path to salvation, but why try to save what should not be saved ?
Pull what you will from what’s left as the ice still peppers the grass
Rebuild if you will, but your fate is lost in the cycle
The weight of loss is bearing down upon me
Tragically twisted, dead, denied to the world
Joy was but a lightning strike and now it’s whispered away
The smell of decay fills my nose- I can feel the wind carry my fog away
Birds, still in the sky, break through the grey, endlessly flapping