The Song of the Sea and the Hill
"I loved you once, my sea, my sea,
your shaping waves, your gouging stones.
You cut my cliffs and mined my bones -
I loved you once, my sea, my sea."
your shaping waves, your gouging stones.
You cut my cliffs and mined my bones -
I loved you once, my sea, my sea."
"We played for a time, my hill, my hill,
I took your chalks and built a beach -
a stage for us to meld and reach.
We played for a time, my hill, my hill."
I took your chalks and built a beach -
a stage for us to meld and reach.
We played for a time, my hill, my hill."
"I loved you once, my sea, my sea.
We prospered well, your storms, my rocks,
the flotsam kelp that smoothed our shocks.
I loved you once, my sea, my sea."
We prospered well, your storms, my rocks,
the flotsam kelp that smoothed our shocks.
I loved you once, my sea, my sea."
"We played for a time, my hill, my hill,
and birthed a child of soil and salts,
a maze of love to soothe our faults -
We played for a time, my hill, my hill."
and birthed a child of soil and salts,
a maze of love to soothe our faults -
We played for a time, my hill, my hill."
"I loved you once, my sea, my sea,
but people came with ditches, walls.
They drained our child and built their halls -
I loved you once, my sea, my sea."
but people came with ditches, walls.
They drained our child and built their halls -
I loved you once, my sea, my sea."
"We played for a while, my hill, my hill,
and soon enough we'll play again.
I'll breach their walls, wipe out their stain -
We'll play once more, my hill, my hill."
and soon enough we'll play again.
I'll breach their walls, wipe out their stain -
We'll play once more, my hill, my hill."
"I loved you once, my sea, my sea,
and soon enough we'll love once more:
we'll save our child and heal her sores -
we'll love again, my sea, my sea."
and soon enough we'll love once more:
we'll save our child and heal her sores -
we'll love again, my sea, my sea."
The Fruit of the Wood
They watch the moils of the midnight fair
as they weave their song, reciting the words
of the land and the sea. Linked by fingers,
the brother and sister sing from a boulder
that acts as their stage - a stirrup of granite
embedded in chalk. The boy is the sea,
his hair the weed that winnows the brine;
the girl is the land, the green of her skin
the grassy pastures that patchwork the Downs.
as they weave their song, reciting the words
of the land and the sea. Linked by fingers,
the brother and sister sing from a boulder
that acts as their stage - a stirrup of granite
embedded in chalk. The boy is the sea,
his hair the weed that winnows the brine;
the girl is the land, the green of her skin
the grassy pastures that patchwork the Downs.
"... we'll save our child and heal her sores -
we'll love again, my sea, my sea."
we'll love again, my sea, my sea."
A flurry of clapping confirms the conclusion
of their turn on the rock. They take a moment
to salute their patrons, their smiles professional
- as if seasoned beyond their seeming years.
He kisses her cheek; she kicks his shin
and together they leap from the ledge of the set.
The fair engulfs them: a glamour of shadows
indulging in dance, in drama, in gossip
caught on the meadow clung to the hill.
of their turn on the rock. They take a moment
to salute their patrons, their smiles professional
- as if seasoned beyond their seeming years.
He kisses her cheek; she kicks his shin
and together they leap from the ledge of the set.
The fair engulfs them: a glamour of shadows
indulging in dance, in drama, in gossip
caught on the meadow clung to the hill.
Hearing the horns of the hunters' return,
the jaden siblings jostle their way
through legs and hips, a hustle, a push;
in spurts they clamber, splicing the crowds
in a roil of rebukes to reach the knoll
where the queen of the feast fashions her court.
They see her face the feral men,
witness the piling of plunder before her -
lifeless prizes plucked from the woods.
the jaden siblings jostle their way
through legs and hips, a hustle, a push;
in spurts they clamber, splicing the crowds
in a roil of rebukes to reach the knoll
where the queen of the feast fashions her court.
They see her face the feral men,
witness the piling of plunder before her -
lifeless prizes plucked from the woods.
The Queen Greets her Wild Hunt
"Come, my ferals! Bring me your gifts and set them
here for all to see: a resplendant bounty -
starlings, squirrels, venison too; enough for
all our compulsions!
here for all to see: a resplendant bounty -
starlings, squirrels, venison too; enough for
all our compulsions!
"Wily hunters, Woden's own warband, welcome!
Rest among us now, for your work is finished:
cleanse your faces; feast and carouse; indulge in
all your compulsions!
Rest among us now, for your work is finished:
cleanse your faces; feast and carouse; indulge in
all your compulsions!
"Loose the dogs to play in our moonstruck meadow.
Hard they've worked this night and deserve their freedom:
howl and snarl and harry the souls who worship
all their compulsions!
Hard they've worked this night and deserve their freedom:
howl and snarl and harry the souls who worship
all their compulsions!
"Horsa, Lord, for you I have many pleasures -
fetch him mead and meat and the ease of music!
Come, my lover, sit by my side; discover
all my compulsions!"
fetch him mead and meat and the ease of music!
Come, my lover, sit by my side; discover
all my compulsions!"
A Girl in Strange Company, Afraid
"Too much; too much! This fever strikes too hard
to be a dream: a nightmare rather, come
to test my head; who are you people strung
about this hill? A cult of madness scarred
by life and hope that leads you here to meet
in secret? Like a club of losers left
to dress in costumes, bows and knives, bereft
of families and friends and incomplete -
to be a dream: a nightmare rather, come
to test my head; who are you people strung
about this hill? A cult of madness scarred
by life and hope that leads you here to meet
in secret? Like a club of losers left
to dress in costumes, bows and knives, bereft
of families and friends and incomplete -
"and yet she shines like summer caught in hail,
and white, so white her skin and gold her hair
and black her eyes and thin, so thin her face;
she looks at me and I feel - vile, a snail
beneath a glitter model's heel - how dare
I stare at her unbowed? What is this place?"
and white, so white her skin and gold her hair
and black her eyes and thin, so thin her face;
she looks at me and I feel - vile, a snail
beneath a glitter model's heel - how dare
I stare at her unbowed? What is this place?"
Time Everlastin'
Silence in the glade: a slant of breeze
lifts through the twigs of the leafless trees.
lifts through the twigs of the leafless trees.
"It's Time Everlastin' - you know of this place?
It settles across old Lympne Hill in its grace
when Christmastide falls on the fulsome oak moon
and dancing becomes our delight and our doom."
It settles across old Lympne Hill in its grace
when Christmastide falls on the fulsome oak moon
and dancing becomes our delight and our doom."
He slumps in his cups, a crack of a smile
loose on the leather of his lemon face.
loose on the leather of his lemon face.
"Come sit beside me and I'll weave you a tale
of night never-over, of endless wassail;
of journeys unfinished, of glamours and glooms -
of folks left abandoned by God to these fumes."
of night never-over, of endless wassail;
of journeys unfinished, of glamours and glooms -
of folks left abandoned by God to these fumes."
She cannot move. A mock of a scream
falters in her throat, throttling her breath.
falters in her throat, throttling her breath.
"I know of a song that can set out the truth
of why we've been caught in the nets of the youth
who came from the east with a curse on his hands
to build a new kingdom in our blessed lands."
of why we've been caught in the nets of the youth
who came from the east with a curse on his hands
to build a new kingdom in our blessed lands."
Her knees unhinge and hit the earth:
a stump of flint furrows her cheek.
a stump of flint furrows her cheek.
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