Valley of Proud Men
Sorrowed down
In the dirt of an unbloomed rose
I seek the light of a moon so weak
It cannot lift it's head.
What made me think
I could find my way
Out of
This treacherous valley?
Where blood and bone
Have gone to ash
And dreams
Have turned to dust?
I hear the cries of moaning men
Their specks of life
Snatched up by dogs
And buried under ground.
The whispers of the Old Ones rise
In the mouths of angry crows
And when they fly, the sky turns black
Like an endless, celestial sea.
I am an apparition now
Not dead or alive, not breathing breath
The ghosts of bison run me down
And the wolves devour my heart.
See them roaming
The tired brown earth?
Looking for flesh
Of tired proud men?
The proud men
Are all gone now
They live in memory
On the eyelids of the dead.
This is the place of massacre,
The land of boiling blood,
The resting place of those
Who cannot rest in death.
And I, you ask me, who am I?
I am the future that never was
The yesterday that died unborn
And the tomorrow that never came.
I am the nightmare
And eyeless vision,
Bitter water pooling forth
From the chasms of the earth.
Searching for the tall, green corn
And drums that beat for dancing
Riding on the backs of beasts
That no longer dare to fly.
I am the voice of children, silenced
And the howl of wolves, unheard
I am the desolation falling
That blankets out the sun.
Ride with me, my angry crow!
My hungry dog, my empty bow!
Ride with me on the bones of steeds
Lying buried in the dust.
The mountains taunt me with their crowns
Stretching arms of evergreen
Point to splendor on their peaks
Made virgin white with snow.
Calling me with teasing smile
To stand and walk the walk of men
The talking trees command me Come
And cool my fever with singing wind.
And I reach forth my eager hands
As seasons change and crawl away
Again and again seeking reprieve
Touching my lips to the face of the sky.
The horse neighs,
The crow caws, the dog growls and sighs
As over and again,
My hands fall to my side.
For the valley won't let me go
The valley won't let me go
I'm the shadow in the valley
Of the shadow of Death
And the valley won't let me go.
©by Voo
June 28, 10
7 p.m.
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