Roving Star

It’s not just the distance traveled,
That taught us to become friends,
But also the knowledge that always
We would stay together till the end.

Moving light in the night sky tells
Of a sign of the beauty we have here
At the journey’s end of the beginning,
A new adventure drawing near.

Campfire, friends and solution found,
We look on to the peace of finding.
Fir trees, stars and tranquil fields,
Let us tarry here in the evening.

And when they come looking for you to carry you away—
Stay calm.
Remember your life below.
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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 28.

Below the Land

The raging torrent comes for me again,
A wild avalanche of razor sharp lines
With fever and sickness crawling through
My legs and my arms, a fire drawing
From somewhere deep within,
My heart ready to burst at the fear
That it’s far too much to ever contain.

Please let it stop, let the underground waters
Keep me far from the hot flames
That rapture at the edges of my mind
And fly far out beyond who I am,
Threatening to drive out past my fingertips
And toward those I care for on the shore
Here in the torch-lit cavern below the land.

And yet, this is who I must become,
Alone to the rest of the world who can’t
Ever know these tremors that carry me
Out past who I’ve ever been before now—
This is my strength and my ability,
To light up the sky with fire
Or to drain it all down to finest point.

Tie it off, hold on to the sour fire
Until it stops and turns to strength,
As the water cools and calms and radiates
Away the worst of the heat and fear,
So now the water is under my control
Along with the joy of this whole world
Here in the torch-lit cavern below the land.

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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 27.

To Let Come What May

We’ve come so far across the lands,
To see now lakes calmed somehow
Beneath the trees that wait for
You to become who you’re meant to be.
And I still fear now that it’s all too much
For your little self to handle
In the great world under shadows
Of the mountains and dark waves.
And yet I find that I must let you go
To take hold of the greater wonders
That shine up from within you
And show us all something beyond us.
But still I want you to know for sure
And never have in your mind a doubt,
That I will care for you forever,
Even when the sun goes out.

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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 26.

Action and Consequences

The great burden is not the fevers
Or the tremors late at night
Or even the length of the journey
To find a solution to our troubles.

It’s not overwhelming nature of the power
Or the misunderstanding of these abilities
By all those around us who are afraid
That this could be the end of their lives.

But rather it’s the consequences of my actions
And the unknown results of what I do
When I change things for better or for worse,
All good intentions mattering little in the aside.

So what do I have to do to understand my actions?
I will learn everything I can, and I will take hold of this strength.
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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 25.

The Great Changer War

Clashing of mighty power
Tearing down the heights
Fomenting war’s beating drum
Picking battles and finding fights
Terrible torture of the dark ones
Quiet abstinence of the light
Fighting for home and nation
Finding difficult what is right

They come now to Quake Town
Determined to end this endeavor
Battling for nation or evil intentions
Knowing this can’t go on forever
They whittle down their numbers
To only a few banded together
And one who sacrifices himself
To ensure life in the land isn’t severed

Take to heart this lesson
That there are bad and loyal and good
Your heart is caught between
Using your abilities as you would
And the cry for release from struggle
When you already know you should
Control these longings for freedom
Even though you know you never could

For the sake of your friends and the world.
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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 24.

Out There in the Dark

Tremors in the night—
The non-terrors are full wonders.
To mold the water and the dripping faucet
Must be to carve my future from the stone.

I can discover what rages within—
Push it down beneath my bones and skin.
Fill up for yourself peace at my persistence,
Knowing I must resolve my own heart.

Out there in the distance—
I can feel more than anyone else.
The rising fire of past things lost to us
Will be, I promise, the worst of our heartache.
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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 23.

Nearing Journey's End

The green leaves nearly glow
In the hilly land near the mountains,
Traveling south to the smoldering peak,
Where the rising smoke is our sign

We draw inspiration for the smallest
Among our weary group of souls,
Find no room to complain about anything
When our struggle cannot compare

Nearly to the end of this journey,
Or at least this portion of the travels,
Not yet sure what to think when
You show me pursed lips and a cold shoulder

Regardless, we must carry on now,
Approaching the final stretch,
Trees lift us up as we search out
The location of the man at Mt. Sull
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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 22.

My Love for You Isn't Safe

If I had known from the beginning
That my love for you isn’t safe,
I wouldn’t have told you how thankful
I am for how much you care for
Doing the right thing and protecting
The good and the true and me.

I would have lay awake under the stars
And drifted to sleep thinking about
Someone other than you.

But now danger has come to remind me again
Of all that could go wrong when we
Lack the focus that is stolen
When we let our emotions carry away
Our sensibility and awareness
Of the traps closing in around us.

I wouldn’t have come to you last night
To feel the pull and strength of your arms,
Had I know that my love for you isn’t safe.
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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 21.

Smoldering

The dark forest where we run
With burning sticks from fires gone
Hearts ablaze and about to burst
Memory rising to the surface to scare
Away the feelings of awe as we touch
Careening toward accusations
Unable to prevent the fear
But let us draw near to the villain
And root out the screams we hear
Into the flickering we fly at the beasts
Gleaming steel shearing the flesh
And the guttural cry of lighting up
Like a glowing log in the furnace
Smoking out our hearts with terror

And at the end of the night,
We are exhausted, shivering, bleeding, weeping,
And once more left alive.
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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 20.

The Pain of Memory

Don’t you remember what it was like,
Back before you knew about this life,
When every day was an exploration,
And not just a waving voyage to a fight.

what I remember
is the blood on the floor
cries of horror from the door
the pain of tragedy for hours
and feeling sick at the flowers
they picked to remember
what I hoped to forget

So watch out for the worse things still,
And if you won’t, then trust that I will.

what need is there to watch
for the gripping fear that is before me
in the daylight when I still see
the sight of those lifeless eyes beneath
staring up and condemning me
for what I can’t bear to speak about
even so far out beyond that life

So let us stand tall against this together.
but I can’t while I fear I’ll remember forever
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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 19.