literature

Dies Irae

Deviation Actions

ProvenParadox's avatar
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Literature Text

The midwinter wind caresses your face
And it buffets the dead leaves;
Adam, and Iblis, his brother (thirty coins rattling);
And the other eleven fisherman-kings,
Shuffle together on this cold apostolic shore,
And their whisper-prayers unwind, painstakingly,
The ochre threads of our tangled skein:
"After nine days on the World Tree,
You climbed down, smiled,
Wrapped an albatross around your neck,
And walked into the setting sun.
        Father, you had to be killed,
        Or else the spring rain
        Would have never come."

The forest claims it is better to rule than to serve,
No matter what godforsaken river you drink from.
If you ask these trees, they might also tell you
Some forgotten tale of a broken king,
The secret of what lies behind the rain
Et dans les yeux des papillons,
Or they'd remind you that a shrouded monolith
Is waiting for us beneath the first equinox:
A bloodstained altar for a supernal offering,
Surrounded by a thousand vultures,
In an impatient spiralling vigil;
        As we yearn for the whisper from the mouth
        Of the spirit of emptiness, our great Mother,
        Pronouncing our final rites.

Our love was lost, then found,
And then sacrificed to the North Wind.
And yet, as our last act,
Pursued by Cernunnos and the lupine Hunt,
We huddled and whispered of horrors
Beside black and dying coals.
The winter chilled to the bone,
And the dancing aurora offered no relief.
But then, after walking in silence through an eternal night
You awoke to touch the heart of light:
To see through cleansed windows of perception:
        In an empty, stone-less grotto,
        You awoke to a reincarnate dawn.
        You awoke, and I was free.
Notes

I finally got this poem finished last night, after it has been mucking around in my head for almost a week. I listened to [link] (Love Song for 15 Ontario) almost the entire time I was writing, so maybe it'll help you read. (I should note, I've done some editing along the way)

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The thing is, a lot of this was written in a roundabout way, with me thinking up several lines at a time and then arranging them. Thus, ideas that I feel flow through the whole thing may not actually. For example, did it feel wintery all the time? Was the theme of sacrifice consistent? Were there any bits that didn't fit in? Also, is there any problems with rhythm? Did you like the music?
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cwedmart's avatar
A fine work - congratulations on finishing. :)