The Devouring Thing
Deep in a cavern,
In the highest mountain in the world,
A fair hero entered
To find a girl.
There he knew some wretched thing
Did dwell,
Who ate the precious things
That he was brought
By treacherous bring.
Into the dark he walked,
A torch to break the soft,
Wading foul waters
Where sulked the creature oft.
A sword in hand
To ready cleanse
The pool and portent
Of the land.
He heard him creep around.
Above his head
Or on the ground
He could not tell...
Until upon his face he fell,
A smiling wretch from writhing hell,
Grinning with a foul delight,
Hungry for a light
He could not keep now for himself,
As he had fled the former blight
That, had he held,
His fight would fight.
"It treads my waters," said the thing
As it slunk around the dark.
The hero's mark he knew too well,
The fiery heart, the stalwart stark.
*****
Eric began to wade into the dank waters of the creature’s cave, sword in one hand and torch in the other. He heard the creature’s movements stop.
“It treads my waters,” said the creature.
Silence followed, and in the next instant Eric’s sword was knocked away from his hand. Something sprung from the shadows, knocking Eric on his back.
“So you want to be a mad duck?” said the wide-mouthed face of the devouring creature, menacing and excited.
It laughed like a madman as it furiously grappled with him, sinking his teeth into his neck and shoulder. Eric cried out, growling as he rolled to reach his sword. When his hand touched the hilt, the creature scurried back into the dark, laughing still.
"Where is she!" Eric shouted, coming to his feet.
The laughter turned to a hissing chuckle. "Which one? The girl or the other girl? I already ate her."
Eric's stomach turned, and for a moment he faltered. His eyes drifted, but another laugh from the creature tightened his grip on his sword.
"You lie!" he hissed.
Another hysterical laugh came from the dark. "A pagan! A pagan would say! Such sight is gone away! Come and see! Come and see..."
*****
The snows were still there when Eric left the cave.
The young girl was close at hand, shivering, but looking starkly into the cold. The other girl was not...
Oh, Wileina... Eric thought.
He cleaned the blood from his blade... red as any man's.
The Medic
It started back in the cemetery.
I used to call it a grave yard
But the man there gave me a sour eye.
I think I'll still call it a grave yard when I'm somewhere else
If I remember to.
There wasn't a lot that I remembered that day,
Just walking past stone after stone,
I don't remember any of the names,
Because I started to remember other things,
Things that were not mine to remember,
And somehow were.
There was a fight,
A battle.
Guns and dirt and grenades
And blood.
I tried not to remember the blood
But there it was.
And there was screaming,
So much screaming.
I always saw the worst ones,
Ones who came to the tent with missing limbs.
Some of the men were brave,
But it was always worse when they were screaming.
My hands could feel the cloth I used,
Bandaging, making splints, tourniquets,
The bottles of disinfectant,
The needles to make them sleep.
I blinked,
And suddenly there was a cloud on the hill.
A nurse in white was there.
She was my mother,
But she wasn't.
She just beckoned to me.
I can't, I thought,
I have to tend to them.
"Marcus!" she said
And the memories faded.
I was back in the cemetery.
"Come on, it's time to go!"
"You shouldn't shout,"
I said under my breath.
"What? Come on, baby, let's go.
"What were you doing out there so long?"
"Just remembering," I said.
She was quiet for a minute.
"Really? Remembering what?"
I was quiet for a minute.
"I don't know."
The Slope of Moros
Conspicuous
What is this?
A song that I have known
Did not touch a stranger's lips
Or left the street below
The bright belief
The window's loft
Or Breckenridge
The Captain's cough
Conjured by the witch's soft
Stranger words were muttered oft
Hell's delight
A sorrow might
Bring a sparrow to its plight
Or snuff a pure and precious light
To cry for more when out of sight
Gorgons and guardians
Hellhounds and hopes
Morose mysteries
Conjure the slopes
To Stop the Cold Embrace
I went to bed with lonely eyes
But would not keep them long
'Cause strange would be my dreams tonight
I pray for heaven's song
I strayed away again today
And on and on I went
To leave the forest on my way
The grace of heaven spent
And though I tried a little more
To stop the cold embrace
The forest knew I had no more
Silly Title
Strangers and dangers and cobbles and crones
Aliens make the stables their home
When the foul man has left here alone
Make sure you take what is left of his throne
I will not wait, you will be on your own
I will not promise you never to roam
I will not start anything that is prone
To open the rock and carry the stone
I will not give silly titles to you
I will not wish for you not to be blue
I will not want anymore to call home
The place that has haunted and left me alone
But cold is the hour
There's a sign on the wall
That says 'make sure you leave here standing up tall
'Make sure you heed when he beckons the call
'And never forget you are destined to fall.'