Quol Del-Amonroth
Of mist and slumberstone
The stars guide me to you
Though you I've never known

And though you are but shadow
Your days of glory past,
I feel that if I find you
I'll claim what I now lack

So silver sun and blazing moon
Guide my feet that I may soon
Stand before those hallowed gates
Where once I stood in sleeping state

To enter in, for none have tried
Since long before the Earth had died
Now in that sleep beyond all death
Awake again that I might rest

Any man can create chaos
Few men can create order
But one must be a God
To bring the two in balance

Who am I that I might know
What mystery might ebb and flow
Great wonders made to my eyes sealed
Things long lost to be revealed
Who am I what should I be
What weaknesses do others see
Surly none more than I myself
A detriment to my own health
I cannot alone myself make due
The world I've found is cruel too
Yet one through another clasped my hand
To lead me to the promised land
A grueling journey of great mistakes  
Weakness, loathing and sulfur lakes
Past that smoke in billows high
I open my eyes and face the sky
To a brighter vista than any before
A glittering pure and sun soaked shore
Where I might rest for a time and a half
To sing and sit and dance and laugh
Renew myself and stand once more

For the road goes ever on

The tide rises and turns
Receeds to the sea
Exposing bare rock
And the roots of the trees
And in distant days
Will it drain ever bear
Exposing lost things
Thought not to be there

Unknown
Cannot be shown
Will not reveal
What cannot be known

Glimpses in youth
Hands in the frame
Frozen in fear
Of what cannot be named

Black like smoke
Obscurely defined
Dreams and reality
Share a thin line

Encased in ice
covered deep in snow
Tombs and chambers
In shadow below
Lying in wait
Or at least so it's said
To come in the night
those things that are dead
I know those stories
To frighten the young
But if only they knew
The darkness to come
The things that they fear
Pale to the sight
Of the undead creatures
Encased in the ice
Though they lie dormant
The ice will soon fall
And the curse spread once more
Dooming us all

A hollow bell resonates
Over cliffs and ridges
Slick with an oily rain

Few remain to hear it
And those that do
Are wary of its toll

Nonetheless they answer
The call from that tower
Overlooking the sea

Though they know it not to be their doom
They suspect it in their hearts

Familiar yet foreign
Strange new forms
Repeat a set dance
That I've known since birth

Amid faint phosphorescence
Do they emerge each night
From the rocks and snowy crags
Of a solemn wispy mountain

Ever streaming downwards
Loose in their movements
Until they reach the forest pools
Where spring first arrives

Coarse
Rough to the touch
I stare at the board
Waiting for someone to smooth it
While my hands sit idle

Oh, I've loved
And oh I've known
That I have died
And I have grown

Into something new

The tracks behind
And the way made clear
I know where to go
I have naught to fear

On this journey long

But oh my heart
And oh my head
They say it'd be better
If I was dead

But how little do they know

That the I, I was
Died long ago

The wastes are my home
Beneath a dying star
My family lies safe below
Of them I am no longer

In this way must it be
For hope to live
Beyond the coming night

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

Hear them gently now
Float upon unbroken waves
The inclinations
Of emotion not yet realized
They exist here
Outside of time
Sent forward or back
By unknown means
In the hopes
They they may find
One separated
By more than simple space

Feel the drum drum
Drumbeat
The closest you get
To feeling complete
When the music swells
To the highest high
Then falls to earth
To pass you by
Let it speak to you
In a deeper tone
Than anything
You've ever known
Lose yourself
If only for a while
To find again
That youthful smile

From when your worries were few

It must be the last winding cobbled road
In all of the city

It weaved in and out of old stone houses
Built long before there was any pattern
Or structure to the town's layout

Rarely these modern days
Was its surface graced by human feet

Its lampposts were still gas lit
Though who maintained them
I could not say

As it surely wasn't the city

Nestled away tight and narrow
As the European cities of old

The cobblestone path
Bared no resemblance
To the wide macadamized streets

Of the ever burgeoning city
Which has all but forgotten

This old and sacred place
Where the lonesome memories
Of distant ages yet linger

The leaves are reddish brown
The sun will soon go down
My love is here with me
Beneath the autumn trees

The air is spiced and chill
Of cider we’ve had our fill
I’d rather be no where but here
As we wait for the stars to appear

Constellations we do not know
We happily draw our own
Gazing into the cool night
We shudder of cold and delight

The time has come to retire
To leave and put out the fire
To crawl into our warm bed
Nothing desired left unsaid

Cuddling close in the sheets
My back feeling her cold feet
A laugh and a hug so close
A goodnight better than most

Sing to me
A sweet song of grace
A melody of youth
From a calmer place

A sweeping orchestra
Or whispering voice
Whatever you wish
I’ll leave you the choice

Just sing to me now
For a time and times still
That I might rise up
My duty to fulfill

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

Thick thorns and roots grow deep
Far barrows of long lost keeps
The dwellings of things once know
Since lost and never again shown

The blackened earth bares fame
To the memory of forgotten names
Who once stood against the night
Last bastion of a fading light

Now gone to unknown worlds
Among the stars unfurled
Will they wait for the darkness return
So that their deaths might be earned

The colors of the evening sky
Run like waterfalls to the earth
The midnight dark follows them
But will never catch them
For it does not wish to

Through the still dark
Celestials peer down
Filling the night sky
With distant calming light
And curious eyes gaze back

Intently watching
Those gods they named above

Through the boughs and leaves
Valleys and crumbled rocks
Does the wind echo

Vaguely articulate
Beneath the moonlight
As if whispering

The telling of stories
Buried in distant ages
The comfort of belonging

To a place that is our own

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?

Who am I but one unknown
The path for me was never shown
The moon went dark and stars fell down
And laid in the sea ten twisted crowns

Beneath that crown were seven heads
Heroes I'd known living and dead
They rose up and spoke my name
Cured the sick and healed the lame

Yet in their words so sound and sweet
I came to know of their defeat
Another alike to them did rise
Not from the sea or from the skies

A second saint lauding the first
He fed the poor and quenched their thirst
His words too despite his deeds
Did not fulfill my longing needs

Neither from the sea or wild earth
Will the One to come show his worth
No, He will descend from the sky above
With justice, wrath, great power and love

Though I thought He had already come
I was made deaf, blind and dumb
It's not my fault, I never knew
Or maybe I did not want to

H̢e͘ļ͘͢l̶ǫ̸̨?̨̕͞
I know you're there
I can feel you
Though we are separate
What ***͏̢id̵͢es҉ us
I am not sure
Just stay with me
If only for a while
I do not wish to be alone
The satellites whisper "Rèj̀͡҉o̸i͢c͠e̛"
In a broken f̷útù̢r͢è̶̕
That they too may fall
As the a͔̮̲̜̙̹ͅn̶̛̦g̸̠̖̠̺̲͖͙͉͟e̱̘͖̱̝̪l͚͈̩̝͕̟̹̀s̞̰̦ once did

I don't recall
But I know I was somewhere before this
Somewhere warm and bright
Alone or perhaps surrounded
I felt enveloped in contentment
Eyes closed but keenly aware
That time did not pass at all
Either forward or backward
A kind of active stasis
Waiting only a moment forever
I was at peace beyond measure
I knew neither hunger or want
Nor who or what I was
Only that soon I would awake

Down in drops
Never more than three
From the highway above
The stars encapsulated in them
Time flows backward
Or so one would think
Yet the reality hidden to us
Is far more unique

Jupiter passes through us
Ephemeral and ethereal
It's orbit lost long ago
The fortress moon
Now rests upon us
Bearing down upon our souls
With it's unblinking gaze

Our Onlyborn moon
Who raised us from youth
Lies shattered and drowned
In the depths of the sea
And after it's death
Will the sun soon follow
Leaving no light
But that of the watched
Great Birulon displaced

Straight gentle
Flowing black hair
The summer sun
A breeze in the air
A tender smile
And deep gazing eyes
Looking beyond
To where my soul lies

Heaven waits above
But not the way you know
A gilded shimmering city
To which none here may go
Real and present
Yet before our blinded eyes
One may never know it
By observing empty skies
For the city is that kingdom
The kingdom within you
Neither here nor there
But ever-present
Waiting to be discovered
Within your own heart

Should you but seek its path

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

I don't know much of anything
But what I do know
Is that I don't know
And now that I know
That I don't know
I can search for what is true

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

In dreams, I've heard a prince did go
From where he came now sunk below
And never since has he been seen

They say that he was the last of his line
A king soon to be and will yet in time
But that was a long time ago

Since those times have all men strayed
The woven tapestry of history frayed
With no noticeable end in sight

Yet some hold out hope for that absent king
To be borne back to us in those mighty wings
That so long ago carried him away

To that city on the edge of day

Wintry winds howl
On the slopes off Illmyuin
The fortress lies abandoned
In ages never seen

Wisp-like things there wander
Lonesome in the snow
No footprints do they leave
And nowhere do they go

They simply trudge and stare
Calling out in the night
In the vain hope that the raven
Might again take flight

From those curious stars

Beyond the shore I have not traveled
I sit upon the white sands and marvel
At the porcelain guardians that watch over
Their flawless faces and radiant wings
Towering above the gentle waves
The lands they govern are peaceful
Surveyed with unblinking eyes
I heard tales of one who sailed beyond them
To places hitherto unknown
But I'm sure those are mere legends
Beyond those guardians that encircle our land
Lie things in wait long since banished
Undying things not understood
So long as the guardians stand though
Those great gifts of Nyalmr
We will yet remain
They have watched over all below
Since the last great empire fell
And indeed they will stand watching
Long after we are gone
And the world has passed away

The Sea engulfed this place once
But spat it back out
None have returned here
In honor of those merciful gods
Who could so easily swallow us all
In the depths of dark waters
But not now, no not yet
In time however it is known
The world will return
As it was in the beginning
Back to darkness
Back to the Sea

The future is gone
Lost somewhere
Between the thought and space
The Digital realm elusive
Present around us
But nowhere to be found
Some there within reside
How many none can say
Perhaps all of us
And reality
Just an illusion

Sometimes I get lonely
Though I know I’m not alone
It’s hard not to feel this way
When one’s so far from home
But all it takes feel
Whole and at peace again
Are the simple little things
You do for me now and then
A laugh, your bright smile  
Or a simple good night kiss
Strange how such little things
Can turn sadness into bliss
So no matter where I am
Whether far away or near
Know that it’s the little things
You do that I hold dear

Others seen in elegance
Perfection of their craft
How we desire their gifts
Forgetting our own

Far off and afloat
Through dreams and nightmares
All tethered and tangled together
A clear path is not set
Ever shifting as the snow
That seeks to consume us all

Enough time is not left to decipher
Where the dream ends and reality remains
I fear that time has already abandoned us
As we walk the cold scorched wastes
In search of an atonement
We resigned all hope of attaining

The dream goes on
If one could call it that
The reality of one mind
Stimulates us all in the dark
Only embers remain
As our spirits grow dull
The last spark of light
Withering in our stillborn eyes

I pray the solemn moon
Guides others to our quarry
That though our bones are frozen
Hope will yet remain
In this the night of all dreams

Oh, what do they know
Those that walk
And down there go
To travel paths
That shadows know
Parades to flow
In and down
Processions of death
With golden crowns
Two by two
They walk in rows
No man by himself
Is brought down low
It just goes to show
It's a coordinated effort
Between the devil and
Our fallen hearts
That without God's hand
We would be torn apart
And slowly drift
Unknowingly so
Down that path
To where they go
Thus follow shades
And to them become
Having denied the path
Of the Chosen One

The oceans are dark and deep
As they were before creation

The gentle sun has died
Not a glorious death
But a slow fading
Into obscurity

The moon lies broken
Shattered in night sky
Reflecting only the dim light
Of long dead stars

Darkness covers the Earth
Yet still she remains
Bidding her time
Waiting for the moment

To set the wandering moon
Back into its orbit
And ignite the spark
Of a ghostly sun

All this she will do
That her children might return to her
In far off ages to come

To sit up straight
On the edge of my bed
Anxious, contemplating
The day that lies ahead

Then to feel her bear arms
Silk smooth hands on my shoulder
A soft voice still half asleep
Whispering near my neck

It's Sunday morning come back to bed

The road may go for a month or year
It may take you far or take you near
To the things you thought you wanted

But inevitably along the way
From day to night and night to day
You'll discover something new

Something more than what you set out to find
Concepts and dreams expand your mind
Until you come to one truth
Unknowingly sought out since youth

A truth so few have received

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

The road goes ever northward
I pray the path stays clear
My enemies stand united
With my worries and my fear
The road I know does narrow
Through wood and snowy field
Despite I will not falter
And never will I yield
For there is one that is
Who was and who descends
And I know that they
Will stand there at the end

To welcome me back home

I've died twice
With a third death coming
Just on the horizon

I eagerly await it

For this death
Will bring more life
Than I have ever lived

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

Monolithic one
Pure, unblemished granite skin
Watching those below

Whisper gently
In my ear
Innocent words
From tender years

Hold me close
As the sun sinks low
Through the curtains
A golden glow

Then close your eyes
Lay with me here
Our troubles far
When sleep is near

The surface only vapors
Of a stirring ocean below
Long sterile and dark
It conceals vague shadows
Obscure shapes and forms
That are not meant to be
There is no sun
The world is darkness
An unending sea of chaos

A Spirit hovers over the waters