Visions of eternity pass

The waves advanced foaming close at hand
and whispered secrets of old
sculpting legends and hiding them within the changing land
....
The truth is there for all to see
just bury your head in the sand *

---

I stood before the ocean
water, wind and sand

Jesus stands behind me
mask of Lucifer in his hand

he say’s the waters fine
let’s take a little walk

I said thanks, but that’s okay
I have yet to hear but talk

(*chorus)


Yahweh came walking by
deck of cards plain to see

He called out as he shuffled past
dealers game, two penny ante

Jesus wept and donned his mask
saying well now, what can I say

it’s always been my weakness
let the chips fall where they may

(*chorus)

I saw my lover to the west
comping Venus on the half-shell

wearing a smile like wings and little else
she did the vision well

she came and stood beside me
with a flick of her tongue set my soul afire

Then with a soft grin she bid me adieu
leaving me standing alone surfeit with desire


(*chorus)


Jesus stormed by behind a tear stained mask
his feet caked with dirt

In all his naked glory
he must have lost his shirt

The sky alights with lightening laughter
the ocean foams in mirth

Everyone must play the game
obligated by the act of birth

(*chorus)

Inside my head the skull always smiles
laughing off the averment of sins

all my worldly aches and pains
inside a cage of skin

Perhaps I’ll walk across the ocean
explore the borders of faith

is the heart shaped vessel solid
or the mists of a fearful wraith

(*chorus)

The waves advance like a closing hand
they scream you’ll do what you’re told
warping your vision toward the raped and pillaged land
...
The truth is molded by the powers that be
they work their wiles while your head’s in the sand

Chrysalis

The breeze baffles about my enclosure, reminding me the world without awaits, whether or not I wish to engage it,... The sun chasing the night signals a flux within and I flex in the rising anticipation of what shall yet be.

I’ve grown beyond the confines of this quiet refuge, to stay is to stifle and fade, my nature overrides the insecurities and I twist in the drive to grow and bloom.

The shell, once a protection, becomes an encumbrance, I push against it’s restrictive closure and it gives and cracks, sundering the cocoon and exchanging the cloister for the compelling air of beyond,... It beckons and I thrash free of the sanctuary that now looms of prison.

Perched with a tenuous grip upon the precipice of time I flex wings of grandeur I have never known,... Vital energy flows, empowering the newfound vehicle of the sky,.. as I gather my wits and center my focus, the calls of multitude vibrancy echoes about me.

With a tentative flex I test the diaphanous expanse that conveys such freedom, and with another stroke I find myself borne into the commitment of flight,... In a few short beats aloft I am dazzled by the growing panorama before me,.. My heart rushes in the expectations that rise like the sun in the east that shimmers in greeting.

I leave behind the carapace of the past, it’s purpose served, a memory that fades as I glide into the spirit enriching heights of an open sky, aquamarine blue with potential.

the tangled life of vines,..

kinda like people

Passion like the stars

Preliminary sketch

Spring

The rush of new life compels

You seek the connection to this mystery that rushes through like rivers of fire

Approaching close, heart clutched in the arc of your throat

You stare directly into the deep knowing eyes of the creator

Hunted or hunter

The forest was dark and still, only the huffing of the dogs as they cast about for a scent on the brisk night air,... We’ve played this game before, the men knew the rules, carelessness meant that someone would lay with their life bleeding into the soft humus of this endless array of timber,... They knew as well as I, it wouldn’t be me.

They had brought in dogs, well trained and vigilant,... But for naught because the only thing that marked sign on the forest floor was my shadow, and with the moon hiding her charms behind the thick cover of wet clouds there wasn’t even that as an offering,... The sensitive canine noses would only know the spoor of the creatures that I shared this domain with, and they would serve no clue for even they weren’t sure of my presence.

Were it not for my forays into the village they would have gladly forgotten I even existed,.. It served as a distraction if nothing else,.. some nights I merely avoided them, some I would lead them a merry chase,.. the main motivation for risking the occasional price of one of their number was the quite substantial bounty promised for my capture, dead or alive, though the provost would like me alive, his drive for revenge made the promise of torture a secondary thing,.. his comely daughter was not the first or only young woman to fall prey to my hunger, some were from far more powerful families that he in turned answered to.

There was a rash of paid hunters that the high placed had paid retainer to, with the promise of dream fulfilling riches upon delivery,... Some saw it as their destiny, for some it was, but not the vision they thought,... A few still molder in forgotten corners of these woods, the small scavengers picking their bones ever cleaner, finally it was decided that the outlay of moneys in advance was a waste and the fat bounties were left as the main inducement.

In all honesty many stalked these woods in hope to avenge a supposed wrong to family or lover, the bounty just a small secondary restitution,... It’s not with malice I do as I have, my purpose is true and steadfast, and I would not impinge upon these persons were it not a matter of fulfilling my own true destiny,... In matters of survival, as in the hunt, if the contest becomes one of hunter versus prey, I will not go lightly into the role of the prey.

This night though, something was different, there was a woman amongst the searchers, I could feel her,.. risking a bit of exposure I drew close to the group to see what I could figure out,.. from the cover of darkness I beheld her, I reached out a tentative tendril to see what could read, she looked up and met my eyes, and a strong connection flashed between us, bewildered and taken off guard I locked my mind down and bolted, survival fires raged in my blood,... I put distance between us, setting in confusion deep in one of my most inaccessible sanctuaries I pondered what had transpired.

Having no real answers I closed my eyes and opened my awareness to the wilds,. I could feel her casting about for me and felt her touch my awareness, as if she could sense it,.. closing down and drawing back, I decided I needed to remove my traces to be safe from her searching,. I would seek answers later,... Moving to the deepest recesses of the cavern, well below the forest above, I crawled into a niche that was appointed with cushions and covers, made myself comfortable and systematically withdrew into myself till I was little more than a spark to the outside world,.. I myself would be hard pressed to track something of such minuscule signature without knowing the source,... I felt she would lose the trail and have to give up for the time being, that would give me breathing room to plan a counter to her hunting,.. A sleep like trance would carry me to the next day and then to plan.

I awoke with a start, and panic rushed through me, I found myself bound hand and foot and could not work free,.. Somehow she had found me, I was still in my niche and I could see only her setting in the dark watching me,... Taking that into account I then calmed myself and began to ready myself to take what ever advantage came to me, my resources were still many and even with this situation I was not yet in the hands of the village.

"How?" I asked meeting her gaze in the flickering light of the torches she had set,.. Slowly opening to the senses that gave me advantage, she looked at me with wide amber eyes and said simply " I can taste you.",... She went on, " I thought at first you had taken your own life because the voice in your head was gone, I was left just the telltale taste of you,.. when I found you,... I trussed you up because it was obvious you were in some kind of trance and would try to run once you awoke.", she pulled a small twisted smile and said, " I know you now, you could never escape from me."


She knew me?!, we would see about that, she was about to know much more than she had counted on,... As I engaged her in trivialities, I found out she had been using her talent for a number of years to track down everything from lost kittens to wayward husbands, all at a price of course, while she spoke, I plied my skill, relaxing her and wending my way into her psyche, finding the root of her dreams and fantasies,... As I worked she went on to explain that she was in such demand she could pick and choose, and though she often refused strange cases like mine the bounty would set her many years ahead in her plans to be a landowner, she couldn’t pass it up.

As she went on about how she went about her adventures, I warmed her trust and heated her passions, molding them making me the center of her desire, as she talked on about the dilemma of how to get me to the surface without giving me a chance to make a break, she faltered and made indecisive noises about if she even intended to follow through how she might just keep me for herself,.. and half checking herself she quieted and contemplated those thoughts,.. it was too late I was integrated into her, it seemed even easier than it ever had been before, as I made the final touch, I thought she would never be the same woman,... Like the women in the village, she would forever be mine.

You will be mine!, the words rang through my skull like the echo in the cathedral caverns , but the voice was not mine, it was clearly hers,.. looking at her wide eyed in surprise she turned to reveal she too was in a state of shock, her eyes wide and liquid, even more apparent was her state of arousal, her nipples tenting the course material of her shirt were signposts to the blush that ran across the open expanse of collarbone rising up lighting her cheeks to the tips of her ears,..

As I gazed upon her nervously licking her rich swollen lips, her eyes focused in a darting glance away from my face,. I looked to see that she was not the only one effected, my erection loomed as a savage statement of my condition, as I had made the final topple of her libido into the soft cushions of abandon, I had wondered why my heart seemed to swell tenfold in the process,.. when I looked back to her she was a fingers breadth from my nose,. That beckoning mouth slightly ajar, her pink tongue at the brink of the precipice,... trussed as I was, when she grappled me in a grip of deep kissing, her tongue leaping to twist and tangle with my own all I could do was submit,.. but never was submission such a climb heavenward.

Next she thrashed in shaking effort to remove my bonds and clothing,...Once free, my hands leapt to doff her of her encumbrances, In the wake of wrestling her severe bun of a hairdo came undone and the flow of her tresses became part of the song of our rolling thunder to claim the territory of the others lust,... The humid smell of our sex must have permeated the caverns along with the moans and growls of our sexual congress, for our passion seemed to regenerate and grow the more we ventured into the heart of the fray.

Between bouts we talked in breathless whispers, word of adoration, words of wonder, and a mixture of puzzling the alchemy of the effect we induced on one and other and plots of how to make the most of this union,.. she the clever wench she was, already had formulated a plan to relieve the provost of the bounty,...In the mix of several rounds of ravishing the wet and swollen features each found fascinating she lay the plan out for my appraisal, and I had to admire the brilliance of it, of course it was interspersed with admiring the other things she laid out before me, our passion knew no bounds, alas our energy did ,even with the occasional spooning nap we eventually sunk into a couples coma of exhausted sleep.

We awoke with a hunger that was almost as keen as our sexual one and as I rounded up food she dressed and went to scout the whereabouts of her companions, she returned somewhat abashed at the fact that we had been at one another for the better part of two days, and even though she admittedly wished to continue after we fortified our famished bodies she knew we had other fish to fry,..

As I assembled my meager belongings to travel fast and far upon her return ,she prepared to visit the village holding and put our plan into action, I would meet her in a nearby pass that would take us beyond any dealings with the provost and his ilk,.. As she picked up her huntsack to leave I caressed her leather clad leg and kissed her,.. she smiled in restraint and said ,.. "See you soon",.. and with the edge of irony in her voice she looked about the dingy cavern and said exiting with a blown kiss , "We really have to stop meeting like this".

Council of Crows

While traveling through many a village I heard tales of the six, most were but superstitious stories from the mouths of the ignorant, but several reports bode well for the completion of my quest,.

For I sought these dark men who seemed to only exist on the fringes of mans normal realm,
I had queries that rang through my head most of the time, with only occasional solace in the deep alcohol induced stupor of the attempted purge, unexplained memories I preferred not to harbor,.. yet answers I sought,..
Subtly asking about I discovered the joining was due any day , but none knew it’s whereabouts or the reason of it’s calling, other than vague rumors of a resolution of a magical nature being brought forth, a number of people looked askance at me for even mentioning the possibility of such a gathering,.. as if it was none of my concern, little did they realize,.. little did I realize,...

One fellow in particular piqued my interest with his reaction,..
He avoided my eyes and told me that I was apt to find more than I bargained for,.. but I should stay in town for a while,.. then shied from any further contact with me,.
I watched him from distant vantage points, his tall thin frame, and pasty white complexion, was easily identified, though he did little that was suspicious or remarkable, I had grown a sense he held an answer,..

I had become obsessed as the clamoring in my head reached a level akin to the cacophony of a passing maelstrom,.. I needed resolution and the peace that would come with it,.. and this stick of a man cast a feeling of a gathering solution , hence I watched and waited,...

The day came when in the quiet of the morning the fellow quietly slipped to the back streets and headed toward the wood at the edge of town, alone and empty handed,.. save that I was behind him, all the while hoping that my presence would remain unnoticed,..
As he slipped into the woods edge, I could have sworn he turned and looked full at me, but without any sign that he sensed my presence in any way, he turned and stepped into the permanent shadow cast by the canopy of the ancient trees.

Hurrying to close the distance so I wouldn’t lose him in the gloom of the forest, I barely registered the first of the small markers hanging in the trees,..
The second came into view and caused me to look closer, an arrangement of what resembled the bones found in an owl pellet, but arranged like a medallion or ward
A small skull with other bones tinkling in the subtle breeze, and hair and grasses giving it a ceremonial feel and it spoke with a familiarity that I felt, but little understood,..
It reeked of a magic that made my scalp crawl,..

As I scanned to find my unwitting guide, I noticed him moving ahead toward a brighter section of the forest, his tall thin silhouette a beacon calling me to hurry toward a fate I had scrabbled toward all these years, unbeknownst to me what the final answers would be,..

As I tried to find cover so I could attempt to discreetly look into the bright sunlit clearing, I heard my name called before my vision could adjust to the glare,..
Deciding that stealth was wasted at this point I advanced shielding my eyes as best I could , the grass was only ankle high and as my sight acclimated the view before me became more unreal,..

Waiting in the center of a circle of chest high stones, stood my guide, looking even more thin and stick like in the almost unbearable illumination,..

The slabs, thrice as tall as wide, that radially would be just beyond his finger tips if he spread his long arms and described a circular spin , they appeared to have been hewn from a red granite uncommon to this area, their edges too fine to be of a natural formation,..
But the innocuous feature that rattled the mind, was what occupied the top of each of the six stones,.

Seen from a distance they would look normal enough, but my vantage made for a confusing visual puzzle,.. which was enhanced by the murmuring of indiscernible voices
Easily mistaken for very large ravens by their size, any county dweller would recognize the sleek bill and head marking the much smaller profile of the common crow,..

But these were no common crow, a voice beckoned yet again to come closer and before my eyes the six wavered in the light and in a manifesting of black conflagration the six stood before the stones as men in black robes,..

The foremost of the six again beckoned with motions and a voice of ironwood, strong and supple,
"do you not feel the calling?, the time has come for you to ascend to you proper place, our brother has come to the time to step down, and thus you have been summoned" with that he gestured to one of the six who looked tired and haggard beyond the appearance of his age,..

As two of his fellows helped the elder step from his robes he turned and made eye contact with me and the rushing nonsense in my head quieted and swirled in a wash of information and images,. And my sight saw a gathering of mist around the elder that rose and in his place flying off toward the east went a great white owl,..
I knew my next steps and walked to the open robes still held by the two,...
As the black cover settled about my body my mind again swelled with cohesive knowledge, the yammering all but gone, replaced with a sense of purpose and a drive to know my role in this strange evolution I was experiencing,.. and a hunger to learn,..

As the new settled about me like the robes setting on my frame the one who spoke to me, turned to my guide and said "Ash, you have served us well, you may now retire till next we need you,.", and without even a glance about the fellow walked to the edge of the clearing and reaching skyward he transformed hi feet spreading and becoming roots that worked their way into the earth, wile his body and arms manifested in to trunk and branches,. Leaving in his place the tree of his namesake,..

As my mind settled and my nerves calmed I heard the spokesman say this council is convened let us begin,.... my mind filled with what I was, and my destiny to be,..

As I flew westward taking my rounds and relishing the clear new existence that had come to me, I will joyfully take the tasks and duties that come to me, till the time that the council of crows next convene,..