Song Of Adonai And Feya

I. ADONAI

Beyond the brick and mortar wall —

Where concrete crowds shun a weary sky

And those beneath do walk in thrall

The mundane paths, ne'er questioning why —

A forest untamed yet calls to me
Dreaming 'neath the immortal stars
More wild and free than any sea:
Long have I sought it behind the bars

Of memory, and waking life
Tonight do I cast those chains aside —

For one therein do I call my wife —

And come this eve to claim my bride

Though no bird nor fern nor ancient tree
Should stir for me this sweet recall:
Unmoved they remain by a mortal's plea —

The autumn leaves have ceased to fall.

Has it been so long? when last I wove
These paths was I little more than a child
Now, more than a man, do I seek out the grove
Yet my heart remains, undefiled.

Not so these lands, bearing grudge for grudge
For mortal hands, ever ruinous and cruel
Scars they wear now, and scars I begrudge
But press my cause, as love's perfect fool.

Fighting my way through thorn and briar
Who guard like dragons over my dream
With bleeding hands and shredded attire
At last do I kneel before the stream

Where long before, kissed by the moon
My beloved did lay her silken form
And enchant my heart with her siren's tune
Luring me in to love's sweet storm

Embracing me near, with kiss upon kiss
A haven I sought in her body's shrine
While ambrosia crowned our hour of bliss
And I became hers, and she so mine.

Yet strong flesh betrayed a mere boy's heart
And for shame I held life more dear than she
The naiad and mortal were destined to part:
In that hour — she chose freedom, and I captivity.


But every night hence have I heard her song
And woken in longing for our embrace
Vows given — unforgotten — in truth I belong
In the haloes and ripples of her gentle grace.

Now the hour grows late, and I grow old
Though no funeral pyre awaits my trust
Still the hour grows late, and the world grows cold
And lo! my love's stream: but a trail of dust.


II. FEYA

The stars of night shine all too far
As though they bear my love away —

Could my heart be claimed by a single star

My only sorrow would linger by day.

But the sweetest tryst by the light of the moon
Was slain like a rose by winter's caress
And what was gifted reclaimed too soon:
My petals flowered, yet none to bless.

Oh, was it my song? was it not so sweet?
My gift of love too pale for thee?
My kisses a burden, a chain my entreat?
If love for love I longed for only

And love received, ere kisses broken —

Mortal boy, mortal thief

My soul was indeed the dearest token

You stripped from the stem like a ripened leaf

Leaving me alone more than I was found —

My sisters long gone to lilied fields
Still the forest mourns them without a sound
As I mourn thee — how long ere I yield

To a mortal's same blessing? late-gifted to I
Yet nearer than stars, more fiery-bright
For the rains do not fall, lo! the stream runs dry
And though I mourn, fear not my plight.

For all of paradise remains
In a water-hole where I yet dream
And rise by night making hallowed refrains
Of such blessings I knew by the sacred stream.

Oh, love, do you hear my song from afar?
Does the form I loved still grace this earth
Or watch from heaven, a guardian star?
Or should I alone know my love's true worth?

Oh, Adonai, one more embrace
One more hour in which to kiss
Your honeyed lips, your angel's face
Then death for me should come in bliss!

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