I saw it there, in far off history
Before the ice grew
And covered the lush
Sun laden lands

I was stunned for a while
What I saw in that distant past
Was dark and inexplicable
Beyond my comprehensive limits

I looked as much as I could bear
And though I could not
Shape proper thoughts
Images entered my mind

A long fallen temple
With a single prisoner
Bound in eternal chains
And sunken below the ice

He of the dust
The title repeated
Over and over in my head
Instilling that name along side
The image of the captive

I knew nothing of the captive
But even in my vision
I could be an overwhelming
Empty presence eminate from him

For ten thousand years
Has he laid dormant
In the northern shelves
Of ice and snow

Yet now they receed
Heralding his return