Sure, I'm a Viking

Oye!  I pillage and plunder and plunder and pillage. I’m a mighty Viking!

And I’ll have you know, I’m actually a better Viking than you imagine.

Sure, I accidently sailed into a tsunami.  And lost both my sails. And that big steering thing.

Sure, I accidently stole from my own house.  And then broke all the windows.  And then uh, burned it…

Sure, I accidently drove my boat into Uncle Bothvar’s boat.  And sank it. 

And  dropped my shield into the sea.

And threw all the sheep into a volcano.

And ended up in the arctic?

Fine.  Yes.  I’m lost.

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Shadow's Defeat

It starts as a whisper.  High above the horizon.

Light like a candle, small and harmless.  I like it.

Then it grows.  Reaching into crevices and corners.  Reaching across my forest.

Reaching into my soul.

Every defect, every self inflicted scar showed red and vivid before the light.

I pull away, tears burning my face.

                Leave me leave me leave me! Take your light away!!

It grows brighter.  Now I see for all my efforts, this is what I could not do.

It’s dangerous.  Terrifying.

It lights the world from ground to sky. And tears the scars from my soul.

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Shadow's Victory

I hold my dreams up to the sky, begging the stars to take them.  To light the world again.

                Fill this blackness with my light!   Chase the shadows with my might!

But there’s no answer to my cry.  The stars have gone.  My darkness chased them away.

I believed the lie, I killed the song inside my heart for a place to hide my dirty soul.

My heart is broken, its blood has stained my chest.

I force my way through the dark. Blind.

I close my teary eyes.  Weep.

I try to remember. Can’t

Was there ever any light?

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Shadow's Beginning

There’s a shadow reaching to the sky.  Dark and grey and undefined, cast by nothing.  It’s conjured up by the blood of those hiding from the scream of their shame.

Up it rises.  To cover the sun.  Make day as dark as night.

Always night but no more stars.  Terror ruins every dream.  Chains like vines grow here.  This is the perfect place to hide a blackened soul.

                Pour your blood into the pot.  Make the shadow thicker.
                Give your soul its gloomy shelter.

I cower in darkness, hands bleeding.

Tied to the ground, weeping.

Where is my promised rest?

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Variable

You think because you failed suddenly I don’t love you?

You think because you held another closer now I’ve turned away?

You’ve said those terrible words.  I heard you.

You’ve thought those blackened thoughts.  I saw them.

You shoved a hurting man away.  I felt it.

And now you cower in the darkness.  You think that’s where you belong.

NO.        I’M STILL HERE.

The only thing that can ever change is the circumstance, love. 

I want you just the same.

I care just the same.

I love you just the same, child.

There’s never going to be a variable there.

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The Garden

There’s rain in the garden of sunlight.  The clouds have covered the light.

                Weep now instead of laugh.  Cry now instead of dance.

You’ve broken the promise, the contract’s compromised.  You’ve fallen so far.

                Poverty and toil.  Darkness and pain.

Year after year, century after century you will fall again and again.  You will perish in the dust from whence you came.  You will watch as your children shudder under the pain of your burden.

But the cry rings out through creation.  The trees and the rocks and the sea.

Turn back.  Come hither.

                 

         He is the God who saves.

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Spilling the Truth

I’mma little squirrel.  I’mma little drunk.

Imma singing a little song about eating acorns… and a chipmunk.

Mmmmmmm mmm chimpmunk.

And while I’m at it, there’s some.. uh… things…

      I think my cousin is fat.  Too many acorns.  I think my cousin is selfish, doesn’t share his acorns.  My cousin is mean.  Eats all my acorns.  My cousin is chubby.  Too many acorns… acorns and acornsacornsacorns. My cousin is mad.  Thinks he needs more acorns.   I’m just gonna say that I’m never ever ever….

                OH!!  A flying pig!!!  (purple sparkly green)

And my cousin.  Yeah.  He ate my favorite chipmunk.

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Song of the Sea

He doesn’t move.  Neither do I.  He because he knows the proximity of the edge, me because I’m too scared to even twitch.  But somehow it feels right.  I’m within reach of his arms but I’m also one false move from a rocky death.

                The song of the sea is calling. 

                Come child.

He’s calling too.  A whisper in the wind.

                The ocean’s in my ears.

                Touch my gentle waters.  Fall into the foam.

                Yes.

The sea grass pushes closer.  Gulls call out encouragement.

He’s my only opponent, holding out his hand. Pleading.

No.  I’m ready.  I’m ready to fall.

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Betrayal and Red

Rain stained red.  Clouds dark as blood.

We look for the promise of creation.  We asked for a new beginning.

This is the gift you give?

Tears stained red.  Ground dark as blood.

We weep for we know our sin.  This land shall be our grave.

Is this the retribution?

Sand stained red.  Ocean dark as blood.

Escape is not an option.  The roads to the sea are gone.

This is our destruction?

Hope blemished red. Dreams black as blood.

Scars mark our hearts. Our land falls to ruin.

                This is our reward.

Morning Star, capture us to the dawn.

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How Childhood Ends

My fair lady, don’t you know?  This bridge will never stay.

We’ve built it up a hundred times, and every time it falls.

Now we have no lamp to strike, no flint or tinder box.

Nimble Jack has stolen them to light his jumping candle.

The streets are dark, the children weep, the sheep have lost their way.

Willie Winkie, dressed for bed, is calling out the time.

Tap on every window, a cry to shake the darkness.

He’s heading for the river, he’s sure he knows the way.

But there’s no bridge to hold him.


Willie must surely die.

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Heart of Stone

My heart is naught but stone.  It does not beat, or pulse or move. It is cold and dark and empty.  It is a weight inside my chest. 

Sorrow sleeps inside me.  It rests inside my soul.  Every time I speak a word, there is danger it will wake.

I grope blind in the dark for light.  A single flame to spark the life.  But there is nothing more than shadows.  And the cold that burns my bones.

There’s a dream inside my soul.

It wishes to be free.

But these chains are holding fast, my heart is broken still.

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Bitter Rain

I had this quaint little dream once to become a famous journalist and report on the most eventful of events. 

But that was before.  That was during the Last Peace, as some are calling it now.  Before the grass was charred black and the cars turned to metal skeletons and the rain to bitter acid.

Now there’s nothing but ruins and radiation and sickness and hunger and murder.  Blood in the streets and poison in the food.  Every breath I take coats my lungs in ash again.

This will be my final report.  Pray, Nation, for deliverance. 

God save America.

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Manhattan Jungle

The toucans are screaming their birdsong.  The tigers are growling.

I have a headache.

The monkeys are up there yapping in the trees, sticking their tongues out and making dirty gestures. Disgusting.

Panthers are prowling.  The elephant is pooping.  The anteaters are all sneezing on each other.  Skunks are hissing.

Trash is everywhere.

My kid is pulling at my coat.  Wants to see more monkeys…  Really?

This is opening day.  And for all I care, all these smelly creatures should have stayed on the other side of the world where they belong.

We don’t need more animals in New York.

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He Should Have Known

The wolf is her sole companion, though the foxes like her too.  But they’re more like pups, they get scraps of words and phrases.

She’s a trickster and he knows it.  But he stays beside her still.  She weaves her words like magic; the melody’s enticing and her voice seems very loving.

She speaks one word and he is ready with jerky twitches and glazed eyes.

He gathers flowers, bakes some cookies.  Gives her old Grandma a call.

She hugs him.  Kisses him.  Tells him that she loves him.

But still she’s planning murder.  And he’s the one who’ll fall.

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The Truth

I think my desk is oak.  Or mahogany.  Or cherry birch?

My pen has black ink and red.  Sometimes I like to change things up.
My work is rather boring.

I have so many speeches.

So many people to convince that war is best.

I dream I am safe.  At home.  In your arms.

I sleep with the sound of bullets in my ears.  Falling debris is a constant rain.
My face is never clean.

I lie without a bed.  The sand is my pillow.  I clutch my pistol close.

I know the truth.

This breath could be my last.

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A Debt To Settle

The cannons had ceased their booming but powder was still exploding.  Two ships drawn up for battle, hulls destroying one another with each jolt of the waves.  If there had been crews aboard, they had disappeared like mist over the cliffs.  A pair of captains, ranks distinguished by fanciful hats, pointed pistols with murderous glares.

 “You still think this a game, Tom?” The sea hardened man hollered.

Tom smiled, his youthful face easily mistaken for innocence.  “The games were over long ago.”
“You have debts to settle.”

“Nothing’s left.  So I’ll be sending your bones to hell now.”

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Down Bandit

“Down bandit!  To your knees!”

Am I not a warrior?  Am I not the scourge of the southeast?

But I fall to my knees regardless.  There’s nothing left for me.  Yes.  Ready to die.

He strikes me.  My vision goes dark.  Blood spews from my face.  And I fall.
Fall to the depths of the pool.

                Please let me die.

She’s watching, her little hands pressed to her mouth in fear.  Tears mark her face. 

                I love you, she whispers.

Who dares love me?  Who dares beg me not to die?

                Live, she cries.

Is love enough to save me?

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In the Colosseum

His hair hangs loose, his body’s bare.

I wear the battle bloodied uniform of my rank.

Was it not I, my Emperor, who grew up beside you?  Held your hand when the surgeon cut, stood by you to shoulder the scorn of your father the Emperor Past?

Was it not I who led your legions to victory?

Have I betrayed you?  By your orders I stand in this arena to fight a barbarian before thousands of your intoxicated subjects.  Is this how I shall die?  In shame?

All my life I’ve protected you, and you’ve left to make my grave.

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On the Shuttle to Nowheresville

We briefed before takeoff.  Just like in training.

I had never flown before; blood pounded in my head when we lifted.

(I gripped the seat like a kid, I admit).  The cities were tiny lights lost in black.

This was it.  This is what I wanted.  To be a soldier ready to save the world.

A grand adventure.

But now we’ve landed and I see the truth.  It’s barren all around us.  A desert. 

No markings, no life.  I ask myself what exactly am I here for?

This is war, my friends.  Far from home and death my new companion.

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The Call of the Sea

I leaned over the pier, pretending a spyglass was in my hand.

And the ships, I imagined they were mine.

Then Mum was there, reaching out, draging me away.“Beware the call of the sea.  The sweet rocking of waves will murder you, my son!”

The rifles, the canons, the screams.   

Our mast has fallen.  Our flag has burned.  Blood runs down my face, my chest, my hands.

The waves reach up to claim me.  Colored red, smeared with bodies.

Death beckons beneath the waves. 

Mother’s warning echoes.

There’s no sweetness here.  The sea is bloodthirsty.  The sea is murder.

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