Saga of Rivers and Shadows: Death
Soundcloud link: https://soundcloud.com/wizardofwestmarch/saga-of-rivers-and-shadows-death
Darkness reigns over our heroine now. Captured after her lover fled without her, she finds herself in the captive hands of the dark force that seeks to rule this world. Meant as a sacrifice, she is bound to a tree as a way to taint the earth and help claim it.
I decided to try something weird form mixing a poetic structure called Cywddd Llosgyrnog (yes it is Welsh) with haiku. The basic idea is a back and forth between the world (the CLs) and her reaction (the haiku). CL appealed because it mixed end rhyme and internal rhyme, with a stiff structure of syllables, though I did not always get the internal rhyme on the exact syllable the structure suggests. Meanwhile having her reactions be short and choppy fits the panic the heroine feels as she is being offered in sacrifice. Especially in the end when she finds something deep, dark, and menacing within herself that proves to be awoken by her trials. And now, the world must face what she has become.
Death
She was carried to the river,
showed her her pain like a mirror
as the world withered nearby.
And there he loomed over it all
with power to hold her in thrall
as his darkness called her home.
Fear is a birthright
she grew up learning too well
as life passed her by.
His minions bound her to a tree
while their feet turned the ground muddy
til the bark and body joined.
She struggled and fought to escape
though she faded, her will reshaped
all for a mistake of trust.
She withered, wilted
under the press of his rage
as the sun faded.
Only the stars watched over her
as pain and burgeoning doubt grew
to steal and break her mind down.
But the tree not only held her,
it showed her inside a monster
waiting for the word to play
How could she deny
the truth the tree showed inside
under the star light
Power coursed and pulsed in her veins
as she tore free, no more contained
while she felt the chains fall away.
Now the shadows answered her call
deny her her death they all shall
as her mind tore the caul off
Nothing can deny
a new truth that uncovers
the lie in old wounds