Masquerades

They came forth with moonlit steps,

With mocking, careless lips.

The savored saviours of the dark,

Like soulless, silent ships.

They all assembled up the stairs,

They watched the crimson kiss.

We watched as they were torn apart,

And then reborn in bliss.

And then at once we all uprose,

They groaned; and then we fled.

And then returned with weaponry,

And filled them all with lead.

Death abounds in masquerades,

Life departs with teeth.

The mask will slowly slip away,

And you'll see what's beneath.

And you will gasp, and turn away.

Too much for you to bear.

But they yet walk with moonless steps,

And catch you unaware.

Here I Am Again

Well, here I am again.

It's been months now and I still haven't learned.

You promised that you'd never hurt me, so how can this be bad?

It hurt for a while, and then it didn't, and now it does, and soon it won't.

I have to make a change. I need to make a change.

It'd be heaven without you and hell with you and both sound just fine.

But this purgatory in between -

Well, this isn't what I mean.

I trusted that you'd find your way eventually.

That you'd cut the ties and find your feet,

Or that you'd turn on a dime and love me again.

I never dreamed you'd be happy in between.

But that isn't what I mean.

What I mean is, I'm not happy living like this.

I want to tear this all down or live in it for real.

Is that so wrong?

I want you to tell me what it is and stand by it.

Or walk away right now and leave it all behind.

So pick one, because I can't.

I never can.

I never learn.

Here I am again.

Soon it won't again.

Two in a row, Jason.

You really should treat this as a bit of a wake-up call, you know.

Play

Keep telling yourself that

You're what you want to be.

I'm vibrant and powerful

And physically free.

You'll wander the night

With the corpse wind a-high,

You'll find solace in strangers

Who'll then pass you by.

There's a moment of weakness,

A blossom of shame,

And then all your weakness

Will pour down the drain.

I'm proud of my actions!

I'm proud of past,

I'm strong and I'm vibrant!

I know I can last.

Then you get home

And the rot will set in.

You'll get past the threshold

And be stared full of sin,

You'll forgive and forget

And you'll give him some space,

But it is done, it is over,

And you've lost the place.

Game Ends

"I use the words you taught me. If they don't mean anything any more, teach me new ones. Or let me be silent."

- Clov, Endgame

Everything amounts to zero,

Ceasing is reward,

We're waiting for a Nero

to burn it all down.

We don't laugh anymore,

We refuse.

Everything is keeping score,

Breathe abuse.

Soon we'll stop and start anew,

Set your watch.

The sky is green, the earth is blue,

Time to die.

Did he get to keep his son?

I don't know.

He didn't get to keep the sun,

He had to go.

Is she dead? Is he dead?

I hope not.

Was she just within my head?

I forgot.

It's time for the painkiller.

But we're out.

Everything's a brain killer,

God won't hear.

Gaps in her knowledge.

There are gaps in my knowledge that I have no idea how to fill.

I like learning new things. When I was a little kid I used to read encyclopedias - picking out a word here and there, admiring the diagrams of insects and the crust of the earth. Those two I really remember - the segments of an ant's body, thorax, head, abdomen - some with pincers and some with little sacs of nectar in their bodies. I remember thinking I'd be a honey ant, but now I'm not so sure. Those pincers look like they could be useful right about now.

The drawings of Earth stuck in my mind too, for some reason. On the surface you have geography, but under it you have geology. My grandmother used to tell me that God baked the earth like a giant cake. Looking back I think her mind might have been starting to slip even then - but the thought of the earth being a giant layered cake with a molten liquid center - well, for a six year old, that was a pretty entertaining notion. I did wonder sometimes what kind of creature would bite into the world. God, maybe.

That thought may have been blasphemous. Sorry.

You were talking about gaps in your knowledge.
You're right, sorry. I just...I don't know what things are okay to learn about and what things aren't, now. Dad says I should turn to God and he'll show me the way, but he seems to want to keep things from me - Dad, I mean, not God. I asked him the other day what a transsexual was and he asked where I'd heard the term. He got really angry. I mean, I don't know enough about anything to know what to avoid, let alone what to learn. History seems safe, as long as there isn't too much killing or sex or drugs - but those are the things I don't know anything about! How am I supposed to learn what's right if nobody will talk about what's wrong? Isn't it said that we must learn about the heretic to better avoid his path? Why is sex so bad to talk about?

I figured out what a transsexual was using the internet. It didn't help at all.

Dance, Chrome Boy

Dance, chrome boy.

You've a trail to follow.

This was once the site of a great empire.

Made up of letters, signals and passion.

We built it only to set it on fire.

And in the flames it towered higher.

It staggered on, staggered on.

Toppled gods, mages, men

Beasts, ghouls, kings - but then

It fell - and that seemed wrong.

Dance, chrome boy.

You've friends to find.

There was no time to record,

Only time to live.

This was all we could afford,

I have nothing to give.

The guild a distant memory,

A fragment lost in space

But it took too much sweat and tears,

For my mind to displace.

Dance, chrome boy.

The spoor is growing cold.

Throw yourself into it.

A cold, disjointed time -

Spoils of war in heaps,

The slain all stand in line.

A friend who turned to foes,

A foe who was a friend,

And nobody could know,

How it was going to end.

Dance, chrome boy.

The mind's eye is weeping.

I wouldn't go back.

Could never go back.

We were younger, weaker

(stronger in attack)

We were led by a seeker,

Who found what he had needed.

The ashes milled around him,

As he burned, though we pleaded.

Dance, chrome boy.

You're an eulogy.

But you're free.

Dipping Deep

It came on down while we were sleeping,

It had no chance while we drew breath.

Wrapped in pomp and circumstance,

It drew us close and doled out death.

We'd been proud, you know, that night.

Wrapped in steel, mail and plate.

Wreathed in fire, smoke and might,

We laughed and slew and drank in hate.

I raised my hands above my head,

And felt the power surging down,

I swallowed mercy, watched them die,

We took the keep, we took the crown.

But it wasn't enough,

Was never enough.

Only in death would we be sated.

And death upon our shoulders waited,

With the grin only a skull can wear,

With burdens someone else can bear.

It all has a price.

Once is one too many times.

I had to dip deeper and deeper.

Clean and pure, clean and pure.

I dug for diamonds in manure,

And death was near,

to wipe my hands

and lend an ear.

There is more, but I can't reach it.

World-soul

I am merely a conduit.

everything you feel

is fuel.

I am merely a meeting place.

everything you want

it wants.

I am merely a nexus.

everyone you know

is part.

I am merely a waypoint.

everything that is

is collective.

I am merely flesh.

everything that matters

is not.

Great world-soul,

sing to me.

I am yours.

Great father,

great mother,

great child.

I am merely a gateway.

everything comes forth

from you.

Great world-soul,

speak to me.

I am yours.

I am merely a voice.

My words enough

for you.

I am merely a man,

You are more

I hope.

Great world-soul,

dream of me.

I am yours.

Diamonds in the Dross

My feet are slick with mud,
My hands are stained with blood,
My breath is hot, my skin is awful cold.
I am obsessed with form,
I'm lonesome and forlorn,
I've done some things, I'm certainly not proud.

But there are diamonds in the dross.
There is solace in this awful place.
A pair of eyes across the room.
Lights up the coaldust on my face.

The colours fill the night,
The street is bathed in light,
It wasn't fair, I was almost away.
I acted brave and tough,
But it wasn't enough,
They sunk in claws, and they took me away.

But you had words like fire
and skin like snow,
I cared for none
and had to go,
But your words were fire,
and your skin was snow,
You tore my mind -
But I said no!

But there are diamonds in the dross.
There is solace in this sterile place.
A pair of eyes across the room.
Lights up the coaldust on my face.

My feet are slick with mud,
My hands are stained with blood,
Your breath is hot, your skin is pale and cold.

Sacrament Drunk

I'll be the axe that clears a forest.

These hands have felt the bite of frost,

These hands have felt the cold.

These hands were young and stronger once,

But now they're getting old.

The meat's worn out, the flesh is torn,

And I can't see this working out too long.

There's nothing left above ground and nobody will mind!

But when we meet, you will see,

I am so much more than what I will be.

Burn it all, burn it up -

I'll be the man who raises legions.

When I'd built up all I could,

When I'd felt all that was good,

When I tired of fights and night delights and booze.

I heard about a man who came

Firebrand in word and name,

And I swore that I would see him in his tomb.

There's nothing left to burn here, so come and face your doom!

But when we meet, you will see,

I am so much more than what I will be.

Burn it all, burn it up -

I'll be the man who raises legions.

Upon this rock I'll build my keep,

Beneath it you will softly sleep.

Upon this rock I'll earn my keep,

And by this wrinkled hand,

You'll go to sleep.

Faecurse

TOO MUCH MIDDLE ENGLISH FANTASY READINGS SEND HELP

In the month that God did craft the world,

(March, that is, apparently)

I met a woman in the woods,

At the roots of the great tree.

"Prithee", said she, "I seek your aid,

For I'm a victim of the night.

I cannot help the way I'm made,

But in this dark I've taken fright".

But being as I was quite drunk,

And overcome with lechery,

I would not play the hero's part,

And with her person I made free.

She fought my hand with nails cruel,

She cursed me twice and thrice anew,

But though at times I play the fool,

In bedroom sport I'm passion through.

At last I freed her from my blade,

And she was clear into the trees,

My hold on wakefulness did fade,

And my drunken self slipped into dreams.

But there was I in for surprise.

For the night had crept into my head.

The shades of dead men fought to rise,

Surrounded me, and softly said -

"No Cicero you, the flouting Jack,

Harness us, you harness all -

But lest you try and mount attack,

We warn you that you are in thrall."

"You've free with fae; their queen, no less.

La Belle Dame, without mercy,

What she'll do is dead men's guess,

But you are cursed, that we can see."

And then the shades did pull away,

And I was forced to open eyes.

The sun was bright with dawning day,

The trees were without shadow's guise.

But I was cursed; the dead men's plan

For making free with faerie queen.

The night had aged me forty spans,

The world had turned by me unseen.

So if you wander in the night,

And womanfolk do seek your aid,

Mayhap 'tis you who should take fright!

In this, the world that God has made.