Sackloth cape;
a tide in the wind
a tempest stomping
with heavy boots upon the war torn ground

in the intense dark
under the fog, like night
through blizzard snows
low clouds paint the land mass grey

the once gold fields become a putrid,
tarnished yellow
echoing the sound of color
the long fraying hair from the scandanavian helmet

long years, this sea
a map of scarring on his back
a cartograph of conquest
with a gaping hole for each lonliness
unhealed wounds for every instance his sword had slain

through untold ages he has searched for her
the warm glowing amber of the sun
that hides beyond the sky
above the billowing ashen horses

at her right hand
the white veiled majestic mountain peaks
gowned for a wedding to the spring
ebbing at her left

emerald blades sprouting through the clay
between the vast miles, the path of thorns
crimson moisture puddled
caches of blood from the failing love

11/19/2005

Author's Note: This was the first and last part of a collab I was going to do with Coco Haynie - but it never turned out. I still hope to do one with her someday. Here is the original ending - directors cut:

a blast from the heavenly vapors
shards of the dawn lay seige on the land
"look! the valkyrie have come upon you!"
look how impatiently they 'round to escort you!

they circle you as carrion
and they await the mighty beowulf!
as if his final passage
would be the steps of valhalla!

"she has gone to the sky,"
quoth the ancient verse
"lo! fall away from the things that bind us to the eve.
lo! fall away from that fate, duality, and believe!"

take the hand of these guardians
ride with freya, for she has descended
let her kiss you softly on the forehead
for your everlasting search has ended!

Posted on 11/20/2005
Copyright © 2025 Joseff Marat