earned
I will never forget,
When your teacher is life then
Success is survival and
Failure is death.

From early years I saw the world
Through tunnel-vision eyes,
My cloistered mind philosophized
And fossilized,

Secure in my belief was I -
Assured throughout my life the
Only things that could sustain me
Were the words of Jesus Christ."

"There is no way to fight a foe
Who strikes from the inside,
And once within we can begin to
Smite this pagan pride.
We shall take their graven images
And grind them in the dirt,
For that men can live in paradise
Must be the Devils work."

[BROTHERS OF THE HOLY ORDER:]
"The clerical conspiracy begins,
We shall wash away your sins-
We have come to purify,

To purge you of your liberty-
Absolve you of all sanity,
The 'truth' you want to hear
We shall provide."

"How can we hope to save these
Heathen when we know not of
Their ways,
One of us must journey southward-
Infiltrate and then assuage.
Only when we have this knowledge
Can we finalise our plans,
Greet them with a velvet glove-
Then crush them 'neath an iron hand."

Christian soldiers armed with virtue-
Hearts afire with blind obsession
Cannot see the difference 'twixt

Compassion and oppression

"These were the days I believed that
Salvation was mine,
When I worshipped apostles
Believing their gospels to be divine.
My life drifted by in a warm summer haze-
And I thought I would bath in the light
Of our lord 'till the end of my days.

But destiny mocked me-
And fate did bequest,
That the strength of my faith in
The Lord God Almighty be put to the test."

"My son your word is matchless as
A scribe you have been blessed,

Your skill and faith in God doth
Qualify you for our quest.
You will sail to Southern England
And recount their blasphemies,
For the first step in their cure
Must be to learn of theit disease."

"For one so young so great an honour
To be chosen for this task,
Have I the stength-
Would I be worthy?
Questions that I dared not ask.
Was I to be a missionary searching
For lost souls to save-
Or just another pawn in their
Monastic power games?"

[BROTHERS OF THE HOLY ORDER:]
"The clerical conspiracy begins,
We shall wash away your sins-
We have come to purify,
To purge you of your liberty-
Absolve you of all sanity,
The 'truth' you want to hear
We shall provide."

"How can we hope to save these
Heathen when we know not of
Their ways,
You Wat Brand must journey southward-
Infiltrate and then assuage.
Only when we have this knowledge
Can we finalise our plans,
Greet them with a velvet glove-
Then crush them 'neath an iron hand."

Christian soldiers armed with virtue-
Hearts afire with blind obsession
Cannot see the difference 'twixt
Compassion and oppression.

"And so with terror in my heart
I learned what had to be,
That I must tour these foriegn shores-
My cross for company.
Those who had preceded me
Of pagan devils warned-
With fearful tales of christian souls
Since martyred on their horns.

In my tale I will tell how we
All were decieved-
For in truth I was hunted not
Hunter as I had believed.

How could I have known that the
Guide they'd provide was to
Show me far more than I'd ever
Imagined I could have desired?
So soon would I learn
What a fool I had been,
There is more than one side to a coin-
Life is not what it seems ...
It's no more than a dream."


Advent of Insanity
A sea breeze echoes softly
It's song echoes through your mind,
Leaves you thinking of tomorrow
And the life you left behind.
Come turn your head to face the
Wind that fills enchanted sails,
And drives you to your destiny
As silent sirens wail.

A sad lament for travellers
Held in the hand of fate,
Your future stands upon the prow
Your past drowns in the wake.
What chance is there for sanity
When madness takes the helm,
And steers you on a downward
Spiral to his lonely realm?

Watch the night-sky- seagulls fly
And in the heavens play,
Yet even angels stoop and still
Pick nothing up they say.
There are things far more sinister
That haunt the midnight air,
The sirens serenade a warning
Telling you:

"Beware- the waves upon the water
Are like ripples in your mind,
And the shadows cast by nature
Show the future you may find.
As rivers flow because they know
That they must join the sea-
Thus you will be carried on to
Meet your destiny."


Do Dark Horses Dream of Nightmares?
Standing on a strange shore-
This desolate coastline,
It offers cold comfort.
Very little more than the sky
For a blanket
The earth for my bed.

[THE SISTERS OF WYRD:]
"Thethreads upon the loom of life
Have foreordained your coming here,
So weep not mannikin of mankind
Dry your worthless puppet-tears."

Unanswered questions-
How they play on my mind,
Now that darkness is falling and
Still there's no sign of my guide.

Either I have been betrayed-
They have left me to die,
Or worse still at this moment he lies-
An unwitting victim by brigands attacked,
Left naked and dead with a knife
In his back.

Childhood terrors return to me now,
From the rand stench of fear in
The sweat on my brow.
Deciet and despair are to me
Kith and kin,
Seduced into slumber-
My nightmare begins.

"Welcome - welcome to my domain,
I have been biding my time.
Watching and waiting -
But now you are mine.

Weaving the web that entwines you,
Like a puppet you play on the end
Of your strings 'till the end of
Your days."

Daylight flees as night gives chase
I'm held in panics dank embrace,
I smother in his cold caress -
The sum of all my worthlessness.
I have been told to thank the Lord
For all that He will send,
But if death should come to meet me -
Must I greet him as a friend?

Now I see that this quest is
A test of my fidelity -
Has God forsaken me?
When maddness sings his lullaby a

Nightmare filled with unknown things -
To cast aspersion on my sanity.

Faith starts to flounder in
A mind torn apart,
My thoughts move in time with
The beat of my heart
A creature of habit
I make easy prey,
Cross faith and fire cannot
Hold at bay the beast that
Pursues me -
The end drawing near.
My soul keeps no secrets -
He knows what I fear.

Flying so high on the wings
Of a dream,
Over mountain and forest -
'cross river and stream.
While the creatures that feed

Off the doubts I invent
Await my arrival with evil intent.

"Welcome - welcome to my domain,
I have been biding my time.
Watching and waiting -
But now you are mine.
Weaving the web that entwines you,
Like a puppet you play on the end
Of your strings 'till the end of
Your days."

So in that twilight world that
Lies amidst life and death I dream,
And writhe in fitful slumber no-one
Hears mjy silent screams.
Except the horses head that stares
With black and lifeless eyes,

Atop its totem glaring as it mocks
My helpless cries.

Now I see that this quest is
A test of my fidelity -
Has God forsaken me?
When maddness sings his lullaby a
Nightmare filled with unknown things -
To cast aspersion on my sanity.

Shapeless form surround me
Casting shadows in the night,
I feel their breath upon me-
Catch their faces in the light.
Somnambulistic hunters come
To prey upon my fears -
As peals of psycopathic laughter
Echo in my ears.

Startled I waken from my
Death-like sleep,
Though fearful and shaken
I crawl to my feet.
Still my memories taunt me -
Like ghosts they appear,
Forever to haunt me when
Darkness draws near.

"Welcome - welcome to my domain,
I have been biding my time.
Watching and waiting -
But now you are mine.
Weaving the web that entwines you,
Like a puppet you play on the end
Of your strings 'till the end of
Your days."

Then fleeing from the terrors
At the night before I leave,

The remenants of reality behind
Me 'neath the trees.
Waking in the light of dawn I
Pray that God will send -
His wisdom now to guide me
Through this night-time without end.

Now I see that this quest is
A test of my fidelity-
Has God forsaken me?
When madness sings his lullaby a
Nightmare filled with unknown things -
To cast aspersion on my sanity.


The Best of Enemies
Oh instrument of God force -
Fed on ignorance and lies,
So blind and narrow-minded
That you cannot compromise.
Even the most foolish theif
Should know what he is taking -
Lest he find himself within a
Cage of his own making.
The Ways of Wyrd are many and
Our path you must decide,
For the secrets that you seek
Are all around you-
Use your eyes.
The threads cannot be broken
That have brought you here to me -
And bind two foes together
Like the best of enemies.

You gaze upon me -
I can tell what you see,
A simple man -
With simple thoughts and
Simple needs.
Superstition -
Preying on a mind filled with fear,
Opposition-
To all your 'enlightened' ideas.
Yet I will show you more than
You can comprehend,
Beware delusion is a
Dangerous friend.

Ask loaded questions seeking
Knowledge of a faith that
You wish to pervert -
All our values,
With hidden meanings
You try concealing your
Underlying wish to convert -
'heathen' souls,

To a faith that will doubtless
Send our Gods to the grave -
Mistake you're making overlooking
The fact that we might not want
To be 'saved'.

[THE SORCERERS CREED:]
Fear is an old friend of mine,
We have met many times before.
(Drawn to these spirits like
Moths to a flame-
When there is no risk then
There can be no gain).
Death is a harsh fact of life
You cannot avoid or ignore.

The Life-force is as strong in
You as it is strong in me,
The difference is what you

Hold captive I set free.
You seek to subjugate all
Those who won't comply,
I'll take your prejudice and
Pride and show you why -
The values that you hold so dear
(all your laws and rules),
They hold no more sway here
Than the mutterings of fools.
Just look about you and
I'm sure that you will find -
Heaven lies within our hearts
And Hell is but a figment of
Your mind.

These teachings that you deem so
Sacred bcome words devoid of meaning,
When compared unto a faith that

Preaches something worth believing.
What is to become of us when
Truth is turned to lies,
Will none remain to wipe the tears
When Mother Nature cries?

Proceed with caution -
Subservient to all you survey,
Hidden dangers await us on
Each step of our way.
Do not falter -
For if you do you will fall,
Prey unto perils far worse
Than you've encountered before.
Compared unto the threats we face
Your devil seems so mild,
A relic from the faerie-tales my
Mother told me as a child.

Why do you carry your God
Like a weapon -
A dagger drawn ready to strike
At the heart of a foe when you
Don't really know the reason
That you fight? -
To replace our disgrace with
The 'loving' embrace of your Lord -
Can't you see that the plans
Made for me and my people
To us seem absurd.

[THE SORCERORS CREED:]
Death is the only recourse
I require in my hour of need.
(Drawn to the spirits like
Moths to a flame -
When there is no risk then
There can be no gain).

Impassive it shows no remorse
For folly and greed.

Pre-emptive prejudice has
Dogmatised your life,
These blinkered views that once
Held true will no longer suffice.
For in my world there is no point
Where you can draw the line,
'twixt good and evil,
Saint and sinner,
Damnate and divine.
Shaven-headed servant of
An infantile faith -
By what right do you presume
To come and take my place?
If there is one grain of truth
Amidst your hoard of lies, 'tis
"Love your neighbour as yourself"

With this alone I can abide.

These teachings that you deem so
Sacred bcome words devoid of meaning,
When compared unto a faith that
Preaches something worth believing.
What is to become of us when
Truth is turned to lies,
Will none remain to wipe the tears
When Mother Nature cries?

THE WAY OF THE WARRIOR
When living your life
Like an arrow in flight
You must always accept that
The end is in sight,
Be gtateful at least for the fact
That you knew you came to death -

He did not come for you.
You are like targets
Who sit and await -
Patiently suffer
The arrows of fate,
Saying "I am but mortal
And destined to die -
I can change nothing
So why should I try?"
Each morning you wake is an
'ember day' dawning,
Your penance for living in
Permanent mourning.
By erst while ideals your
Hearts are enslaved,
You crawl out of the cradle
Straight into the grave.
What reward is a banquet
Of red wine and bread,
When you hunger for life -

But on death you are fed?

Do not underestimate
The task you undertake,
Overcome your hopes and fears
And meet them face to fate.
These spirits aren't your enemies -
But neither are they friends,
Do not dare insult them lest
All nature you offend.
They who were here before us
Will remain when we have gone,
And though we're long forgotten
Still their memory will live on.
Perhaps one day mankind will see
The error of it's ways,
And in it's future glimpse
Reflections of our yesterdays.

Drawn to these spirits like
Moths to a flame -
When there is no risk
Then there can be no gain.


How Have the Mighty Fallen?
Denizens of sylvan places
Hidden from the eyes of man,
Courtesans with sylph-like graces
Dancing to the pipes of Pan -
That echoed through the ether
Notes that soured the wings of halcyon,
Songs to give our life the meaning
That we lack now they have gone.

Watch the pattern ever changing
In the tapestry of fate,
Weft and weave and interlacing
Silken strands that fabricate -
A cloak to fit both king and beggar,
Those who rule and those that toil
Are equalled in the fact that

All pay homage to this mortal coil.

Icy fingers grasping madly
Get a grip upon my throat -
And slowly squeeze the life out of me
On my dying words I choke,
Afrantic prayer in desperation
Cannot hope to make me whole,
A moments lapse of concentration
And the spirits flee my soul.

Drugs and potions surge within me -
Slowly paralize and kill me,
Terrified I stumble blindly
Into the unknown.

Outside looking in - observing
Feelings that I find unnerving
Dying with my eyes wide open

Helpless and alone.

The endless void that lies beyond -
With gaping jaws it beckons me,
I cast my worldly flesh aside and
Plunge into eternity.

Once light hearted I departed -
On my quest hope courted me,
Now a new love is my true love
And her name is misery.
Eyes as dark as midnight-ravens
Gems that filled my mind with awe,
Enthral my heart -
Distract me from her milk-white hands
Stained red with gore.

The fetters that bound me are broken,
By words that were best left unspoken,

For now I am shackled to sadness
By chains that are tempered with madness.

I plummet like a shooting-star
That shines so bright yet falls so far,
Shafts of moonlight guide me
To the world that waits below.
I seem in need of nothing else
But rope enough to hang myself-
Laughing through the gates of Hell I go.

[MY SOULS LAMENT]
Contained within a living shroud
My life-force fades and dies,
This weary heart grows heavy
As the coins upon my eyes.
The latch has now been lifted

On an ever open door,
And peering through I see things
As I never have before.

The hammer and the anvil meet -
In synchronicity they chime,
#a sound so simple and complete
It needs no melody or rhyme.
Reforging all that I once was -
They make me into something new,
No longer trapped within this world
But, transient and passing through -
The 'valley of the shadow'
Far beyond the 'summerland',
Like the wild-boar is my valour
Now my life is in these hands -
That keep the seething couldron steaming,

Stoke the fires of destiny,
Gently take me and re-shape me
All-wise smith of sorcery

The fetters that bound me are broken,
By words that were best left unspoken,
For now I am shackled to sadness
By chains that are tempered with madness.

From the 'cup of happiness'
The wine of hoped I've sipped,
Betrayed I taste the bitterness
Of pain upon my lips.
Though I try to drown my sorrows
They will surely drown me first,
For swallowing my pride
Won't quench this thirst.

[MY SOULS LAMENT:]
In this darkness light has faded -
Hope becomes despair,
Loneliness for a companion -
With me everywhere.
I wander in confusion
While the tears that I have cried,
Gleam like broken trinkets
You have worn then cast aside.

"Now hand-in-hand with ignorance
The power mad run blindly,
But retibution hunts you down
And rest assured he'll find thee.
No curtain could conceal you
For the ghosts of all you slander-
Await you at your journeys end

And, to them you must answer.
The poisons born upon your tongue
Will never serve to slight me,
For I have delt with many fools and
Suffer your kind lightly.
Just as you sow so shall you reap -
And I my friend have plenty,
So sit ye down and eat your words
Now that your plate is empty."

The endless void that lies beyond
With gaping jaws it beckons me,
I cast my worldly flesh aside and
Plunge into eternity.

Once light hearted I departed -
On my quest hope courted me,

Now a new love is my true love
And her name is misery.
Eyes as dark as midnight-ravens
Gems that filled my mind with awe,
Enthral my heart -
Distract me from her milk-white hands
Stained red with gore.

The fetters that bound me are broken,
By words that were best left unspoken,
For now I am shackled to sadness
By chains that are tempered with madness.

The endless void that lies beyond -
With gaping jaws it beckons me,
I cast my worldly flesh aside and
Plunge into eternity.

Once light hearted I departed -
On my quest hope courted me,
Now a new love is my true love
And her name is misery.
Eyes as dark as midnight-ravens
Gems that filled my mind with awe,
Enthral my heart -
Distract me from her milk-white hands
Stained red with gore.

The fetters that bound me are broken,
By words that were best left unspoken,
For now I am shackled to sadness
By chains that are tempered with madness.

I plummet like a shooting-star
That shines so bright yet falls so far,

Shafts of moonlight guide me
To the world that waits below.
I seem in need of nothing else
But rope enough to hang myself-
Laughing through the gates of Hell I go.

[MY SOULS LAMENT]
Contained within a living shroud
My life-force fades and dies,
This weary heart grows heavy
As the coins upon my eyes.
The latch has now been lifted
On an ever open door,
And peering through I see things
As I never have before.

"Why do the mighty view the world
Through syncophantic eyes -

Then claim to us they know what's best
From pedastals of pride?
Don't take the views of others
And dismiss them out of hand -
For when your pillars crumble
Tell me who will take command?"


Wildfire
In thoughts from visions of the night,
When deep sleep falleth out of sight.
Many a strange thing will you dream -
Though it is never what it seems

Awakened from my troubled sleep -
Where dreams once lost as
Nightmares creep,
To steal my soul and suffocate
What sanity remains.
My anger mute -
My anguish blind
Within this sad fragmentmented mind,
Your eyes the spark to light fire
That burns away my pain.

Protected by reality-
Yet you still fear the beast in me,

Your reckless tongue could be the key,
You'll be the first to die
If it breaks free.

Alone tonight-
Myself and I,
On raven wings our spirits fly.
All hope has fallen out of sight,
Without the wit or will to fight.
I face up to my destiny-
You'll see another side to me,
A love that dare not speak it's
Name is born tonight of sweat and
Flame and ...

Wildfire - hallucinations
Fill my mind with
Wildfire - a love so strong
That it is blind.
Wildfire - a dream of such

Intensity,
Wildfire - it verges on
Insanity.

Protected by reality-
Yet you still fear the beast in me,
Your reckless tongue could be the key,
You'll be the first to die
If it breaks free.

In screams of raw emotion
Down my cheeks the tears flow,
With my tongue tied I damn these
Eyes that let my feelings show.

Bursting with frustration -
Feel the cancer eat my mind,
Flirting with damnation -
To all dangers I am blind.
Twisted and contorted -
Forsaken and forlorn,

Like the love you have aborted -
Yet tonight I am reborn in ...

Wildfire - we're like the
Spider and the fly,
Wildfire- upon your web
Ensnared am I.
Wildfire - bound by threads
That hold me tight,
Wildfire, so sweet the kiss
So cruel the bite.
How could you be such a fool,
To dare to break the golden rule?
Yet in the light of day I see
That you were right -
The fool is me!
In screams of raw emotion
Down my cheeks the tears flow,
With my tongue tied I damn these

Eyes that let my feelings show.

Bursting with frustration -
Feel the cancer eat my mind,
Flirting with damnation -
To all dangers I am blind.
Twisted and contorted -
Forsaken and forlorn,
Like the love you have aborted -
Yet tonight I am reborn.

Now muy futile cries for help
Are drowned in laughter.
Searching though I know I'll
Never find what I'm after.

I seek a release from this
Web of deciet -
Now my terror is growing.
There is no escape
From my fate

It's too late -
All my fears are showung.
Though I'm running from
Something that just isn't there -
The panic is real,
And you must be blind for
My words cannot hide the
Heartache I feel ...

Please God help me now.


Mythistory
I'm standing at the
Crossroads of my life -
Nothing to lose.
Each path leads to oblivion,
Whichever one I choose.
Rising from the ashes of my plight
I traverse filaments of light,
That permeate my ethereal form -
On omnipotent threads I'm born.
Unto a place where I can find
A balm to ease my troubled mind,
That I may glimpse things
Yet unseen,
A world not grey -
But evergreen...

And can you blame me -
Is it such a crime,
To crave for one small piece

Of heaven that I can call mine?

For years I have waded
Through bland mediocrity,
Watched my hopes sink
In a mire of negation.
Yet why pay the cost for a
Paradise lost when here is
An Eden of natures creation?

Sisters of servitude-
Fearful and fair,
Who herald good fortune
And mete out despair.
Take pity upon me and
Give back my soul,
So that I who am 'empty'
May once more be 'whole'.

[SPIRIT VOICES:]
"Mortal be silent -
Take heed as we speak,
Not lightly will we return

That which you seek.
True wisdom walks hand in
Hand with adversity,
Knowledge exists on the
Brink of uncertainty."

The moment that I saw her face
My lust I could not hide.
She knew me as no other -
Viewed me through a lovers eyes.

A vision of sensual delight
Pervades my senses -
And ignites new feeling
That I can't define,
Desire for this succubus sublime.
Sister, mother, virgin, whore -
She is all these and yet still more
That I could hope to understand,

She takes my heart -
I take her hand ...

And can you blame me -
Is it such a crime,
To crave for one small piece
Of heaven that I can call mine?

All my life I have yearned -
How my spirit has burned,
To taste the fruits
That my tonsure forbade.
Yet here was a beauty so pure
She could truly outshine any
Star that the Lord God has made.

Sisters of servitude-
Fearful and fair,
Who herald good fortune
And mete out despair.
Take pity upon me and
Give back my soul,

So that I who am 'empty'
May once more be 'whole'.

[THE FAIREST OF THEM ALL:]
"Brand look no further -
For that which was lost can
Be found in me if your
Distrust becomes troth.
I will bestow you with
Riches untold,
For I am your 'harvest-home' -
I am your soul.

Come walk with me through
The vale of eternity,
For you must know ere you go -
I go with thee.

Corn is the gold that
Will shine in the Summertime,
Leaves are the emeralds
You find in the Spring.

At Autumn they turn and
As copper they burn,
Then fall like the diamonds
That bleak Winter brings.

From the beginning when hour -
Frost and flame collided -
The birth of the world
To proclaim,
Your lives have been guided -
Decided by fate,
Unaltered by chamges that
You try to make.
The world nkeeps on turning -
Men still live and die,
Though many have questions
So few even try,
Searchfor the answers
That you have found here -
Unaware of the threads in

The web that is wyrd."

Drowning in the waves which carry me
'cross oceans of tranquility,
Lulled by the eddies of my mind -
Washed up like flotsam on the
Tides of time.
I've no desire to return
From whence I came I came
Now I have learned,
Within us all resides
A dream of days not grey -
But evergreen...

And can you blame me -
Is it such a crime,
To crave for one small piece
Of Heaven that I can call mine?

For years I have waded
Through bland mediocrity,

Watched my hopes sink
In a mire of negation.
Yet why pay the cost for a
Paradise lost when here is
An Eden of natures creation?
- * -
All that is left of those
Times are my memories,
Days long since past into
Realms of antiquity.
Tales round the fireside
From old men who reminisce,
Speak of lost youth and
The age of 'Mythistory'.
Many a cold Winters night
She has come to me -
Easing my sorrows and
Soothing my fears,
In the dreams of this old man

A soft voice still comforts me,
Made young once more by
The words that I hear.

"Come walk with me through
The vale of eternity,
For you must know ere you go
I go with thee ...
I go with thee."