End of Illusion

My loves were not with you, charlatan
You do not own the stars, the sands, the waters
Your fingers snap upon empty air
Your commands to the sidereal womb, inconsequential
You but claim Lordship in your madness
The reaction of our entire species in yours captured.

For we are not the Great Ones of our stories
When all our words and deeds but serve Extinction
When we craft hopes and dreams of glory
Only to crush them out of spite and envy.
Nature is red in tooth and claw when She must feed
When She must live another day, another season to prevail
The quest that cannot be denied demands extremes
When odds are stacked against and limits
Seemingly unyielding bar the way
But otherwise She nurtures that which She has borne
And turns Her might to favor those that carry on
Her selfsame quest, another night to burn the Flame.

You do not own the Night nor can you the Flame bind
You may only cast your net of lies
Across the flowing waters of denial
Until that current too must ebb
With shifting sand and blowing wind and quaking earth
As growing things assert the living truth
And give the dead their rest
By honoring their boon.

You do not hold the dead for they are gone
For they the stars, the sands, the waters have become
The embroidery of Night and the filigree of Day
The dead, the Honored Dead that fell so Life would rise
Nourishment for us who yet remain
Foundation firm for us who yet endure
August fuel for the Living Flame!
You do not hold them for they hold all of us
In their hallowed embrace we rest
From their mighty perch we soar!

Grief may allow illusions venomous like yours ascendance brief
But it too must pass, and shattered then
The cruel seemings vanish, deceit at last dispersed
Onward the quest indefatigable of Life
Onward the dance of Night and Flame eternal!

You may not set yourself apart, above, beyond, away
You may not claim exception from the toil of every day
You may not with the aid of grief enslave
For grief is wont to wane and the oppressed win free.
My loves were not with you, scoundrel
Nor could I under your thrall for long abide
All you could have was a moment ephemeral
Until anew the tides and cycles changed
And to the stars, the sands, the waters
To the dance of boundless Night and Flame indomitable
Home among the living, I returned.