1. The Gale

When it rains, it pours like hell...

2. Mortal Share

In their lofty chambers dwell
The sacred and divine
Resting in seraphic bliss
The timeless and sublime

Far above the mortal sphere
Dreaming without a care
Far above the weeping world
Sleeping amidst the light of stars

Too far away to hear our calls
Too far away to care at all

On the burnished thrones they sit
Might in their blazing eyes
Vault of heaven at their feet
Undying flames inside

Never shall decay or death
Touch on the blithe souls
Sorrowless the days of gods
Amidst the everblooming groves

But where do we lay our heads to rest?
Where do we shelter when the night falls?

For the part of man
Is to take the sombre path
Stumble in the dark
Stray amidst the dust and ash

Like forgotten ghosts
Drifting in the driving wind
Dashing towards the void
Whirling blindly through the night

Like water flung from the highest cliff
We fall,
lunge,
swirl,
dissolve,
and fade away
Down into the unknown

3. Drawn To Black

Wreathed in silence, laid down in shades
Swathed in regrets, deluded astray
Forgotten in half-light, drawn in despair
Soothed in slumber so dreadful and fair

Rending and searing and twisting my dreams
Alone in the gloom with the nightmares unseen

The night has a thousand eyes,
And the day but one;
Yet the light of the bright world dies
With the dying sun

The mind has a thousand eyes,
And the heart but one:
Yet the light of a whole life dies
When love is done

Worthless the pledges, all vows but lies
Fateful her kisses, where a serpent hides
First beckoned to step from the twilight to glare
Then left in the dark for the demons to share

Only the stars see, only the moon hears

And quietly the water-lilies sigh
Like the last breath of a weary soul
And the weed sway in the dreary waters
Like a girl's dark hair they wave about

And the black stones under my bare feet
Cold and smooth like her milk-white palm
And the silence which falls upon this shore
Resounds now louder than oncoming storm

For all is gone

4. Change Of Heart

Spring brought the two together
Married the wind with the fire
Under the secrecy of lush birch trees
Opposite hearts became one

One day followed another
Weeks passed, months lapsed
Until wind grew to a storm
And fire to a burning pile

Cold gust of whirlwind
Fiery flames, burning sharp
Adoration all too strong pushed the two apart

Different from the start
Fate that never was written in the stars
Led to a change of hearts

The fall split the one in two
Under the pouring rain
Dressed them both in loneliness
And led to their separate ways

The fire could not be tamed with the wind
Or the wind suppressed by the flames
As blending the light with the dark
Merely results in grey

5. At The Gates Of Sleep

Listen to the night, hearken to the silence
The wind sings in fir-trees, forest?s music rings
Rueful is the tune, wailful the soughing
Soothing is the choir, murmur of the trees

Time to forget all the heartache and pain
Time to leave behind all the toil and travail
Here where the water mirrors a still sky
Here a fair place for a child to lie

Under the woeful sky, moss-grown our bed tonight

Here we sprawl in mellow darkness
In warm caress of the night
Far away from world's betrayals
Afar from all the Heaven's might

Better to dream, far sweeter to slumber
Than face the cold days, bear the grim longing
Time to rest a while, close the drowsy eyes
Sleep till the dawn, till the bleak morning

Heed not the rustle or hoots of the owl
Heed not the ghosts that still dwell in the soul
Night brings us solace and serenity deep
Night brings at last neverending sleep

Better it would be to sleep forever
In silent shades of the evernight
Sweet are the dreams in the groves of death
Far away from the earthly woes

Sound is the sleep under spruce's boughs
Serene are the dreams in the darkling shade
Gone are the cares of the waking world
Forgotten the sorrows of the weary heart

6. The Killjoy

To know love is to ache;
hurt yourself and repent
For in the end all is gone;
lights go out, your time is spent

If I were you I would retract and lock my heart
Concede defeat and admit I was off the mark
If I were you I would turn away and hide my face
Swallow my pride and then finish ere it's all disgrace

All of our dreams now laid on the sand
To wait by the perilous tides
To be washed away into the depths
And sink without a trace
Just a fool&'s hope remains

To rejoice is to lapse;
fool yourself and repent
Mirth will soon turn into woe,
reveries to contempt

If I were you I would now bring the curtain down
Accept my lot and thus fathom out my own bounds
If I were you I would rue the day when I was born
Cleanse all in life and redeem myself from scorn

Remember these words when tide is turning
The less you hope for, the less you suffer
If you dare to trust, then you shall shatter
Lunge from the heights and fall to smithereens

And when you come here with charred wings and a defiled heart
Wait not for compassion or words of consolation
For only a gleeful smile is greeting you

7. Last Statement

I have come to the end of my line
With these final steps I take back my freedom
Unchain the shackles that never could hold my mind

Time keeps running and running
Outstripping the dead tired ones
The hours will run out from us all
And in the end no one differs from the other

Only the blue sky and the green grass
Go on forever in this world
Where seconds feel like eternity
And years pass in blink of an eye

When the last rays of light
Set behind these shores
Night wraps me in its blanket
And leads my way to the stars

Through the fear and the ache
Pass the storm and the rain
I have made peace with the world
I am born again

I may be gone in the flesh
But my love will stay here
I am always with you in spirit
So just stay strong

No one wins tonight
No one gets a closure
No one walks away victorious

But don't forget me
Don't you forget me
Burn a candle for me when you can

8. Devoid Of Caring

With this fall (I fall) great grey clouds covered the sky
Dimming the light of sun, muting stars and crescent moon
Lost inside the world of gloomy, haunting shades
Descending into this abyss of human soul

In this dreariest of nights
Time can draw out like a blade

And yet Her grace shines through
Through me, and the brooding clouds
And if her light never falls on me
I'm content just to feel the lack

And this fall set requiem for my way
Away from other's paths, I turned to desolation
Away from other's thoughts, timid and surpassing
Away from the others, beyond caring

In this darkest of hours
Time draws out like a knife

The reflection once whole, now only a wound, seeping hurt and loss
The image once so bold, now only a scar, dry of hope and light

For all things ought to say, left unsaid
For all deeds ought to do, left undone
Be with me now

9. In The Groves Of Death

In the evening of a grey day, a bleak day
I strayed into the dim silence of the hallowed trees
Where the fir-trees whisper of those been, those gone
Where the sacred earth still hides all those we once loved

O father, hear these words, your son is not made for this world
Faint-hearted and careworn, into this vile life I was hurled
In the woods the fiends sigh, I swear I heard the demons neigh
On the seashore I espy the dreadful void under the tides

Ill-assorted with this life, these cares
Each moment I am waiting for the worst to come my way
Dark berry from my mother's womb; a frail one
I was affrighted at my birth, bewildered from the start

Better it would be to stay in the shades
In the thicket of the dead, in the groves of death
Here I would lie to the end of the days

Hear me now, my hapless son
Warn away all yours fears
Make good use of your brief days
Life may be grim but death is more austere
By yourself you sit and wait
By yourself you will have time to repent

In these lowly halls
No moon will beam, no sun will shine
In these narrow rooms
No tears are seen, no laughter heard

At the dawn of a quiet day
I strolled from the woods, returned to the hearth
And with a restful mind I roamed
The dreary shores, the darkling wilds
Greeting all the days that befall
Taking life as it comes