a-drifting-mind

[a-drifting-mind]

Sunlight on my face

So warm I almost forget

How lonely I feel

[a-drifting-mind]

Across

The air is sharp in the late winter day, whipping the face, clasping the hands, cracking the lips of anyone daring to venture outside and face it.

She is used to that harsh, unfriendly atmosphere.

Reaching the frozen bank, she trudges to the border, where earth and water meet.

She gazes on.

A wide path of solid ice covered in scattered crystals.

She listens on.

A faint rustle of late dancing leaves falling off dormant wood.

She marches on.

A creaking of shrinking snow under leather shoes.

Keep a steady pace. Don't look back. Don't stop.

She watches, straight ahead, the distant sleeping trees get taller and wider, their skeletal boughs more and more distinct on this canvas of ever shifting hues.

Water, only water under her feet. She's walking on it, unaware of its two different states.

The only sound is that of morning snowflakes, hundreds of them at once, shattering under her feet. She becomes aware of it, very much so, all of a sudden.

Every forest creature is resting somewhere deeper in the woods, every bird is enjoying the warmth or a foreign far away land.

This place is meant to be so still, so silent in this season, and the only one disrupting the quietness is me.

She halts then, in the middle of the path, disobeying her own rule she made mere seconds ago.

The only sound she can hear now is her own breathing, less noisy, less disruptive than her walking.

Feeling it all the way down her lungs, she lets the icy air in and out, soothing, purifying.

One after another, ephemeral clouds of airy mist appear before her, fading away as quickly as they formed.

Glancing right, she then looks upstream. In time to see the sun dip between mountains. Melted orange gold drained down the pass, up West.

Dusk allows in the night stars in the sky. Each sparkling dot visible once again. Most are of fire long dead.

Head raised up, she twirls round and round. Her arms open and her eyes close. Breathing in the cold, feeling in the peace.

Forgetting.

To spend an eternity in this place, in this state, for that she would gladly give up all the rest and more.

How long has it been since you felt that much harmony within your mind and body?

Though I can hardly remember, I don't want it to end so soon.

A crack.

Sudden.

Distinct.

Stopping once again.

She listens still.

Echoing back to her.

A sound nearly the same.

Just a bit less pronounced.

Just as terrifying.

For an instant, she's nothing but a living statue, a heart beating inside, much faster than it should be.

She knows too well the predicament she put herself in. All because the lone bridge had felt too far downstream. Now pay the price of your slow thinking, your absence of mind.

Moving could mean death, but so could staying still. And pointless would it be to call for help in this area so tranquil.

Holding a whimper of fear, fighting tears of distress, she settles on a order to give to herself.

Advancing once again, her pace faster, her steps sharper than throughout the half she has already crossed.

How foolish you were, letting your guard down. How blithe. How childish.

That short-lived moment of bliss, what does it represent compared to days, months, years of a bleak, mournful existence?

The cracking resonates, menacing, as the frozen floor gives way under her feet. She's running now, barely thinking of where to step, only focused on the other bank, which won't come any closer.

That hidden water will swallow you. That thick layer of ice will conceal you. No one will look for you. And you shall be forgotten forever.

Though gruesome, such thought is almost comforting.

For perhaps it was meant to be.

The sturdy soil is back under her feet, sending a dull shock all the way up her legs and back.

For the third time she holds still. First quite surprised. Then completely relieved.

She's standing on the earth once again.

Looking back, she observes the angular pattern outlined by huge drifting shards of ice.

Looking back, she ponders.

Was it on purpose, to test how much she would be willing to reach the other side?

She was doubting herself for a moment, convinced she wouldn't make it.

And yet she did.

All the way.

Across.

[a-drifting-mind]

Blows the autumn wind

A howling of rain and leaves

The song of the dead

[a-drifting-mind]

With eyes barely closed

We lost ourselves in a kiss

Of two different shades

[a-drifting-mind]

How I hope one day

You'll requite that same passion

I feel towards you

[a-drifting-mind]

I wanted to get

A bit of red on my lips

And so I kissed her

[a-drifting-mind]

A Nightmare Before Dawn

As I rest my mind drifting

To dreams never dreamt before,

Slumbering after reading

A tale about fiends of yore,

Ones that hide every evening

Still behind the closet door,

Each night my sleep beguiling

Following some ancient lore.

In this mansion so dreary

Fears awake until morrow,

Emerging from my story

Creatures concealed in shadow,

Their howls dreadful and ghastly

Entertaining my sorrow,

Hoping in their mean fancy

With sins my soul to endow.

Beside a yew in full bloom

Enduring their fierce ire,

A great many hardships loom

Setting my heart afire,

Predicting my wretched doom

And sealing my fate dire,

I despair to leave this gloom

But strong faith I require.

And still that great pain spreading

Through my limbs that feel so sore,

Sensing my spirit fading

Like the ebb leaving the shore,

Turmoil and fear entreating

I let grief within my core,

Dread and worry relishing

I wish I need rest no more.

[a-drifting-mind]

Repelling Draw

'Til the end of time within our realm All of us thy glory will overwhelm And none other shall ever match thy skill For grim sorrow through great art thou can heal. Resting during day, thou shimmer by night Despising the sun, I bask in thy light.

But such fame is no gift to desire No one but thyself doth thou admire Many previous ones have drowned in their pride, Yet by thy lethal pull I must abide. Beware, my love, for contempt is a sin To the simplest souls blissful death has been.

How wielding such wisdom doth thou ignore  The dryness thy loss could bring in my core, In which distress would be all worlds marine? Still for an enslaved life I yearn and pine And though in harsh salt thou tear me apart, Twice a day to thee I will lose my heart.

[a-drifting-mind]

Abiding Servitude

The fairest of all angels I do serve. With a blood most pure and a will most strong, Such a fine master I do not deserve; For her to praise me is all that I long.

Behind ashen hair gleam pale azure eyes; Those grave features in all do awe inspire. Yet I, her night who brings her foes' demise, Will answer her every whim and desire.

To see her in pain is my greatest fear; From the slightest harm my queen I will shield, Shrouding her soul in my own mind to bear The doom to which she swore to never yield.

          And although her death rendered my heart sore,           I shall stay by her side for evermore.

[a-drifting-mind]

High Tide

Puddles of life in this large bay Scattered 'tween fierce foam and sharp shore See that white sand stretching away But the waters stay still no more

For when the moon beckons them back Seas and oceans start following To cover up that wide rough track That by the sun has been drying

Rolling waves of eternal birth Loud winds drawing a salty whiff All the tears of this weeping earth Come crashing back against the cliff