Category: Only The Stones Survive

I fade into the darkness as the night is sneaking in
I run to the shadows to escape from death again
The land I love is overrun by strange marauding men
So I fade into darkness and live
Fade into darkness and live

The veil of night descends and blurs the details of the day
The swift of foot are quick to hide their treasure fast away
I wish to run through open fields but hidden I must stay
So I fade into darkness to live
Fade into darkness and live

I fade into the darkness
I live a shadow life
I live in constant fear
Of the hammer and the knife
I fade into darkness
And hunt throughout the night
I live in the shadows
And crave the taste of light

It’s been six months or maybe more since Spring birthed hills of green
And with the bloom came foreign ships spreading on the beach
They give no indication that they’re ever going to leave
And they spread death everywhere they go

The sun feels warm against my skin but sounds a danger knell
The risk of observation is first kin to sense of smell
A furtive glance along the shore assures that all is well
But I fade into darkness again

copyright 2018 Donald Paul Harris

Desperate men in desperate times
Desperate choices with fear-filled minds
The will to live or even just survive
Drives a desperate fight for life

Ashes to ashes and dust to dust
Iron crumbles into rust
Flesh decays on shattered bones
Its secrets locked within the stones

Fight or flight; scratch and bleed
Wrong or right; want or need
Life resists the constant plunge toward death
Heart beats stronger with each struggling breath

Ashes to ashes and dust to dust
Iron crumbles into rust
Flesh decays on shattered bones
Its secrets locked within the stones

Secrets locked within the stones

Copyright 2018 Donald Paul Harris

Full moon rise; darkness falls
Instills the urge to run away
Autumn comes and winter calls
To give new life to coming days

[chorus] So the circle of life marches on
As the markers of time inch along
Leaving the past behind
Slowly the clock hand climbs
Closing another day in the circle of life

Forest floor thick with leaves
Feeding the earth as they drift away
New life forms in bursting seed
Seeking the sky to live another day

What’s passed on; What’s passed down
Changes the earth in its cryptic ways
Life moves in to the fertile ground
And the sun shines down on a world of change

endtime coming down going round going down
all time ticking down going round going down
Time clock ticking down going round going down
Tick tock ticking down going round going down

Copyright 2018 Donald Paul Harris

The old king sat upon his throne
Carved by masons from finest stone
He traced his fingers across the face
Of a god chiseled in the post

And as he pondered his life and fate
He sensed his time on Earth was late
So he lit his pipe and entertained
Himself blowing rings of smoke

[chorus] He felt time sifting through his hands
Along with his earthly demands
The hands of time drag on
And drag everything along
There is no past or future
only now

Was the world any easier in a simpler time?
Was the king any happier with less on his mind?
As the clock of the world pushes winter to spring
So the force inside drives a future king

The old king strode through the portico
Where servants gather when work is slow
He studied the tapestry on the wall
That spoke tales of long ago

He watched the warriors with lust in their eyes
He heard their anguish and battle cries
And as he gazed entranced in awe
He swore he could feel them die

As he pondered his past and days to come
He wondered what changes would come along

[chorus] He felt time sifting through his hands
Along with his earthly demands
The hands of time drag on
And drag everything along
There is no past or future
only now

When I was a child
The universe was made for me
On the day I was born
The world saw its first morning
To ensure I was happy and free

[chorus]
When will I be an adult, I said
When you start to think like an adult, said he
But he did not tell me when that would be
And the world still revolved around me

When I was a child
To lull little eyes to sleep
We sang songs of a gentler time
From before the Great Catastrophe

Thoughts in my head
Spinning me around
Every day I grew stronger as I ran
And in time I had grown into a man

[chorus]
When will I be an adult, I said
When you start to think like an adult, said he
But he did not tell me when that would be
Now the world no longer spins around me

12/25/2017

Night mist swirled around me
Bathed my eyes; touched my cheek
On my lips I could sense the taste
Of a distant primordial sea

My eyes pierced through the mist
And perceived a host of distant lights
Dancing and swaying on an ageless mound
Like a coterie of ancient fireflies

[chorus]
Time is an illusion with a purpose
Only those with open eyes can truly see
All who’ve gone before are never truly gone
But The Gathering is an ancient memory

As I strode the mist parted from my way
To a cairn that was impossibly high
I began the treacherous climb up the jagged stones
And on the mound I found myself in empty time

12/24/2017

Storm clouds formed
The storm of war
People armored for the battle call
Hope is the cruelest trap of all

Bard stood by
Harp by his side
A spark tore memories lost in time
Desperate voices screamed in his mind

Long ships sailed
Storm clouds wailed
Bodies washed ashore from the raging sea
Scars in time are only cruel memories

Fierce battle cries
Warriors fought and died
The land we loved tainted by their blood
The dark wolves howled like a woman

12/24/2017

Her eyes were old when the world was young
Her words were bold and silenced everyone
She wielded power the music in her voice
Called for peace in the gift of song

Beware how you cry for war
Recall the tales Before the Before

Accusations were flung like sparks from a fire
And stung as they singed hair and skin
War is not the way of the Children of Light
This is not the time to begin

Beware how you cry for war
Recall the tales Before the Before
The true cost of war will be found
When your children lie dead on the ground

The Great War of Memory was so long ago
And a warrior must fight to be a man
But setting a fire not counting the cost
Scorches earth and destroys the clan

12/23/2017