Iridium Columns

Skåld

I am skald
I see the rot in the light
The pain in the dark
I hear the cries, the laughter
Yet here I sit, alone
Alone to transcribe these days.

Great deeds I have seen,
Borne witness to heroes,
I have broken my fast with tragedy
Counting each, innumerable tear

I've seen the hollowness of good,
The heart and soul of evil
Yet , still I can see little difference.
I've seen heroes fall to villains
Only for the villain to take up the cause.

I've travelled through oblivion
And found myself in infinity
Where all mysteries obscure to nothing
And past and future blur

I've heard the ravens caw in thousands
And listened the battle's melody
Heroes, I've seen, with their mighty swords,
Cursed by the flaws of their gods
Given up to die or to heal
Shattered bones and shattered spirit

I've seen mortals feast with gods
I've heard the wailing of the dead

I have drunk the mead of poetry
My eyes opened to the agony of victory,
The wanderlust of the traveler.

Bard, I am, to the voiceless
Those oppressed by gods and men alike
Howl and sing, to moon and sun

I'm the troubadour
The voice like honey and steel

Skald I am, cursed with beautiful words
Enslaved to creative forces to write and recite
I can see all of time
Her grief in ecstasy, and power of rhyme

Winds blows and rains fall
Chronicle it all, remember it all

Remember the dragons
Who hide at the edges of maps
Their fire, which melts the hearts of lesser men
Are fuel to me, seer of impossible things

The king is arrived, a hero of heroes
Yet forever swathed in shadows and inkblots, I
Kingmaker, godbreaker, make them immortal

What is time to the skald?
He who exists beyond the realm,
A great chess master, armed with quill
Sounds the heroes beyond the pale
Eater of lies, I, shine the sun to Nyx.
And sit at the table to howl her pain

Where are the wolves?
Children of night with Faustian dream
Eat the sun, devour the moon
The story must be told.

I will drink the summer wine, the winter mead
For who else had heard my pain?
I, alone in frost, see the beast in your eyes.

Tell me your tale
For I shall make you immortal

I have sipped from Mimir's Well,
I have supped beside the river Lethe.
And I know all, and nothing
For nothing is the same