Dark Waves

There’s a hope in the dark waves,
Softly lapping against the pitched boards,
Where I find safety in running away,
But freedom in heading to somewhere new.

Hiding our faces in the dark night,
These hoods are meant to conceal us,
But it’s the turning of the rudder
That sends us where we want to go.
For campfire and open fields
Give us a sense of purpose and choice,
Though the sadness of the past comes,
And we remember those who left.

And yet, there are those who have stayed,
Even as we haven’t, dusk after dawn,
But before night comes we search the tall grass
And see there’s a hope in the dark waves.

With the release of every chapter of Below the Land, I will be posting a companion poem. This is the poem related to Chapter 10.

In the Abandoned House

Dark corner, musty air
Fled to edge of reach
Here he comes
Wicked glint in his eye
Reaching for her
Scream to the sky

Window shatters
Floorboard creaks
Fabric bursts
Dust ignites

Bitter end, choking away
Hopeless tears
Here he comes
Through the bright door
Reaching for her
Come to save the day

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With the release of every chapter of Below the Land, I will be posting a companion poem. This is the poem related to Chapter 9.

First City

The white bright highlights on the crests
Of waves wandering to the shoreline
Below the brown wooden docks
Lined with clean sails and knotted ropes,
Down under the shadows of lined houses with
Beams holding up red and blue thatched roofs
Covering families and businesses and inns
Hiding in the beautiful day of such a grand
New and wonderful city of a town.
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With the release of every chapter of Below the Land, I will be posting a companion poem.  This is the poem related to Chapter 8.

Into the Night

Those shadows come out

In the dark and the deep blue.

Searching for the brightness

Of the new day dawning,

I yet find beauty in the faint light

Given by the stars that meet the horizon.

Why has it come to this,

In the deep pain and the fear?

Has this shadowed beauty

Been created for us,

So far away from shining day,

Where green flowers bloom

And red trees bear fruit

Under the northern slate mountains?

I must go on in search of the healing,

To find the right way through the doubt--

Beyond the tremor and past the shout.

This path must be before us now,

For we couldn’t can’t be left alone in this.

And so I know there has to be an somewhere better.

There must be a way.

There must be.

So now or never we trust this,

Let us go onward,

Even when the sun has gone down.

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With the release of every chapter of Below the Land, I will be posting a companion poem.  This is the poem related to Chapter 7.

Thorn's Den

What have you heard?
What news is there of the world?
Sharp swords and hunting knives
Tell us what’s at stake.

And speaking of the burning stake,
Have you heard of the criminals
Who turn our homes from havens
Into the dangerous place we always knew it was?

You can’t be too careful these days,
Not when there’s Changers about—
So keep an eye out for me
If you want to save your hometown.

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With the release of every chapter of Below the Land, I will be posting a companion poem.  This is the poem related to Chapter 6.

Fear and Trust

Won’t you believe when I say
I can’t do it on my own now
We’ve run so fast and far away
Feels like hope left our hometown

I pray for rest from being forever tired
A reprieve from the fearful distrust
Where she fights what’s inside her
And we can only do what we must

Won’t you hear our plea for some aid
A gasping cry for some brief relief
Don’t you see she’s so very afraid
And trusting you must be our belief

Give us a chance to breathe and heal
Here amongst this hay and the light
Just a moment to find out how we feel
Here safe for now in the dark night

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With the release of every chapter of Below the Land, I will be posting a companion poem.  This is the poem related to Chapter 5.

Grace Undetermined

Dark and lonely house,

Hazy in the afternoon dust,

Summer flowers turned to brown,

Will this grace be enough?

Why do I feel pain if I’m not guilty?

How can there be bloodstains

On the hard wood floor

From crimes that weren’t committed?

Surely this tragedy has no one

Left to blame in the lantern light—

Yet the sadness stays with us

And fear opens away from moonless night.

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With the release of every chapter of Below the Land, I will be posting a companion poem.  This is the poem related to Chapter 4.

Cost of Escape

Gold clinks over the woodgrain,
As I remember the bitter drink.
But we must sell what we know,
To go before courage shrinks.

I never thought it would come to this
Cries in the night

I never thought it would come to this
Screams for help

I never thought it would come to this
Shouts for doctor

I never thought it would come to this
Gasps of blood

How did it come to this?

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With the release of every chapter of Below the Land, I will be posting a companion poem.  This is the poem related to Chapter 3.