Sounds of an Elder Dream

By Cliff Lake

 

Sounds of an Elder Dream

 

When the stars align in ancient design,

When iron fails and the curtain between worlds rolls back,

Will you trust to mages and runes writ for your protection,

In hidden places before time was time,

That still whisper in your psyche,

Beneath the noise of this world?

 

Races of an elder time lay sleeping between your dreams.

Called forth when galaxies collide,

Releasing energies long forgotten and little used,

Save for spites and petty gain.

Will you recognize your lost brothers then?

Or will you name them monster once more?

 

Let them teach you again the songs of the butterfly,

Let them show you the colors known only in moonlight.

Let them guide you to swim through the trees,

And show you how to walk between raindrops.

Let them serve you wine brewed in the tulips,

Let them gird you in armor that will not yield to steel.

 

For in those days the sorcerer in pretty guise

Will be among you seeking ruin.

Then will he offer you all that you ask for,

And leave you with ashes to pay for your pains.

And turn you once more against the fair folk,

Naming all but himself as witch to be destroyed.

 

Listen well! For his words will be as hammers,

Hard to the ear, and dull, and heavy.

But the words of the lost ones will be as sustenance,

Filling the soul, feeding the heart.

Then will the sorcerer call up his minions,

And your lost brethren will stand alongside you.

 

Then will their eyes glitter as diamonds against the Darknight,

Eager again to meet ancient foe!

Then will you know all that they taught you,

To face the demon onrush beneath the hard moon!

Then will your armor be weightless and impenetrable,

And the glitter of your swords will dazzle the skies!

 

When the stars align in ancient design,

When iron fails and the curtain between worlds rolls back,

Will you stand against final evil, will you hold the line?

Will you choose all life to be protected

Or will you choose tawdry baubles,

That you must leave behind?

 

The war against all things has been waged in the open,

Destruction is named progress and we all play our part.

But the elder ones that sleep have not forgotten,

Hidden from us by a veil of ages.

When the shroud is once more drawn back,

We must stand for life, and light, and let darkness fail at last.

 

Cliff Lake 1/31/2023

Copyright © Clifford Lake 2023

 

Location: Dalton, MA, USA

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