Shade 59: In Search of Curiosity

I look for mystery but it’s harder to find
I look for a place I haven’t mapped in my mind
But there are roads through the forests and planes in the air
Light switches in caves and tourists everywhere
All the species have names now and shows on TV
With this supposed knowledge comes monotony
Where is the romance adventure and awe
It inhabits this world no more

Shade 58: Champion

The brave man wanders naught without purpose or plans for a goal
The wise man lets nothing disrupt him that he cannot control
The strong man survives in the desert when all lifelines run bare
The great man assembles a following where no one before was there
The smart man knows the right answer by feeling alone
The sure man triumphs completely without e’er being shown
The bold man raises quick his voice at injustice in the land
The noble man quells intense disputes not needing to raise a hand
The just man protects and projects his ideals and backs them with sacred fire
But a man must be all these men to forge his immortal empire

Shade 57: Queen Mab

Come to me O nymph and sprinkle dust upon my head
And take me from this waking world with haste
I desire not the doldrums that this world of day possesses
So come to me there is no time to waste
For when you come to me O nymph you show to me a place
So wonderful I dare not try to explain
You show to me a kingdom that’s entirely my own
And exists in the recesses of my brain

Shade 56: Drinking Song I

Let the stone hall ring
With our song, with our song
Let our hearts take wing
Come along, come along
Brother, join our merry throng

Be you warm enough of head and heart
Be you haughty men or frail
Ringing nice and clear with our booming cheer
Brother, fill your stein of ale

We’re a welcomed lot of good repute
We are thoughtful men and true
So sit right down let your sadness drown
Brother, here’s a toast to you

Let the stone hall ring
With our song, with our song
Let our hearts take wing
Come along, come along
Here you are, here you are we sing
Brother, join our merry throng

Shade 55: Moonshine Revelers

In the clearing of the glen, when the moon is shining full
The silent trees make refuge in the quiet summer dark
Fireflies go flickering through the undergrowth
And light the forest glen with their erratic yellow sparks
As the pale moon waxes high above the shadows take their form
And the little sprites of midnight come to be
Dancing through the thicket making worship to the moon
Swirling magic through the darkness in their nightly revelry
No man has ever caught a sight or even heard a note
Of the dulcet minuet that is the ritual of the nymphs
If you stray these glades at midnight though be wary for they say
You are stuck for all eternity if you merely catch a glimpse

Shade 54: Melody for a Snowfall

Rain O white in sheets of cloud
And drape the town with crystal shroud

And tame for once the torrent road
So calming bliss can slowly grow

Within the nest spread warmth and peace
And coat the world so tranquilly

Shade 53: Twilight on the Shores of Purpose

I walk this beach at twilight
And around my feet float in
The broken dreams of untold souls
Who once had fire within

I walk in their desolation
In their goals left incomplete
Drifting without direction
And tickling the soles of my feet

I tread upon their dignity
Beneath the silent moon
Looking through their shattered dreams
Hoping I never find my own

Shade 52: Widen Clouds of Green and Black

They say a plague is coming
They say the end is nigh
They say we are but sinners who need judgment
And must die

The people of North Farthing
Have lately taken ill
They’ve quarantined the town they say but
It keeps spreading still

They say there’s terror up in Freeport
They say there’s panic in the west
We’re reaping what we sew they say
How could we have sewn this

O few showed up at church for mass
For they’re all in disbelief
They ignore the news that’s going round
And hide behind their grief

The baker closed his shop today
And none in town know why
The whispers and the rumors spread
But I’m too young to die

Shade 51: The Stoning of Rosanna Noel

No one walks these streets no more
They’re haunted some men say
The houses lock their windows tight
The tourists stay away
It is said a great tragedy happened right here
That none in the town tried to stop
On this very street a young girl was killed
Stoned to death by a blood thirsty mob
None recall why or who cast the first stone
But it’s a black-mark on all of their minds
They can’t even look into one another’s eyes
Without feeling the weight of their crime
It is a simple testament of what bloodlust can do
They’ve all lost a piece of their soul
But the entire history of this longstanding town
Has been redefined by the stoning of Rosanna Noel

Shade 50: Her Beauty is as Starlight

There is a girl of starlight pure but captured here on earth
Her haunting eyes and porcelain skin give my poor life its worth
She fills my heart consumes my mind and turns my every thought
And a day without her lilting grace is a day that is spent for naught
I simply wish to touch her skin to kiss her lips or gaze into her eyes
And beg her heart before the jealous stars return her to the skies
The single moment I implore
Would fill my heart for evermore

Shade 49: Fortuna’s Kiss

I know I have ability, intelligence and strength
And to some degree success may be assured
But there is no such thing as certainty as far as I’m concerned
So I seek the cool security another’s divine word

Lady Luck, shine down on me ‘tis your support I need
The violent winds of chance are blowing cold
There is so much room for error in the task that lies ahead
Please help me guide the things I can’t control

Shade 48: Winter’s Breath

Invasive cold pervades the walls
It fills the rooms and floods the halls
‘Tis creeping, creeping closer still
Pursuing cloaked in bitter chill
With frigid glare and freezing will
None evade her calls

The water turns to icy stone
Touched by cold to man unknown
Circumspect O, one must be
This fearsome frost will come to thee
It will pursue relentlessly
And freeze one to the bone

Shade 47: The Great Zombie Uprising

Where will you be
When the zombies arise
And try to reclaim the streets
With corpse-rotting flesh
They are lusting for brains
And other such humanly meats
They’ve a lumbering walk
a low lifeless moan
And no need to rest or desist
They will come for you
In numbers so vast
That no man can hope to resist
So go get a twelve-gauge
Some Kevlar and nades
For there’s only a small upper-hand
Get to some high ground
And board up the door
It is time to make a stand

Shade 46: Peak Through, O Moon, the Clouds of Night

I want to quit, I feel I can
And quitting here is great
I want to know that I am he
Who’s master of his fate
I want to know I’m not the man
I always say I’m not
I want to show myself I can
Be stronger than I thought

Shade 45: Camouflage of Time

The trees have overgrown this place
And shrubs and weeds spring tall
The walls barely visible ‘neath the tangling ivy
Yet vividly this place I recall
These tumbling ruins still are great in my mind
It reminds me how fleeting we are
That once a great tower stood with such strength
But in no time has fallen so far
And from any distance would pass unnoticed
As it melds to the forest behind
Though once this spot was a landmark of my youth
It is difficult and trying again to find

Shade 44: Charter of the Martian Farmer

Oh stand and swear allegiance to he who declares his rule
And be counted among the subjects living artery to a fool
Tis known to all that dukes and kings are naught but thieves and charmers
But he with any intellect pays respect to the league of farmers

Shade 43: Hero Awaken

When sun first dawned across the scape of iron-laden red
The towering peaks of crimson slag bemoaned their ancient stead
For a new sun stretched his fingers wide across the barren sands
And through forgotten fires forged this vile and desolate land
Where bitter winds and haunting silence the bravest men would scorn
Within this cruel and jagged jungle a kingdom of Men was born

Shade 42: Arctic Impasse

The patient one sits in his icy cave
While the tundra outside grows white
He is wrapped in his fur with his firewood low
And concern on his face grows tight
Can he brave where the snow cascades o’er the land
To make up for the meals he stupidly missed
But what if he goes and he can’t get back
And he winds up frozen in the piling drifts
Or does he sit tight with his meager warmth
And wait to see how his situation might improve
Perhaps a mammoth will stray or the snow will stop
Should he stay and starve or should he move

Shade 41: Ghost in the Back of My Head

I see you in shadows
When I’m out on the street
I know it can’t be you but I look again
And in the crowd I see your face

I see you in shadows
When I’m ready for sleep
I try not to remember but there you are
Like a roadmap to a familiar place

I see you in shadows
When I’m thinking of youth
I wish I didn’t it’s more bitter than sweet
So I still try to not recall

I see you in shadows
Though years have rolled by
And for whatever reason I think I am glad
At least I still see you at all