Angels
**Clicking the numbers will display artwork associated with each stanza**
01
shivering
i huddle beneath branches
like my body covered only with snow
my broken wings enfold me
but featherless
the wind cuts through
my dead heart slows
as my soul bleeds
the drops freezing
crystalline on my face
the sun has set
on my beautiful foreveroctober
and winter has come
its icydeath fingers
pierce me
i am dying
i want to watch the sunrise
before my end
the cold speaks to me
"sleep"
"to die to sleep is better"
"better than remembering"
"sleep"
but i remember
02
i remember my wings
a dead angel
reborn on earth
she showed me
my dead heart began to stir
i remembered my wings
tested them unfolded them
she watched me from afar
not believing
afraid
she touched my feathers
and sang of their beauty
but would not reveal her own
her wings kept hidden
beneath her cloak of memories
03
i remember how to fly
i grew daring
i looked on the faces of the dead
their eyes were dead
but they saw me
i was different
in my new heart
i knew
i could do so much
race the chariot of Apollo
court the tender moon
and return to earth with dawn
stars glittering in my hair
but not alone
never alone
i would not go
without her
04
i remember how to love
i went to her
i bared my soul
spread my wings
and took her by the hand
a gentle kiss smoothed her brow
i took my new heart
from my chest
wove it into a wedding garland
and placed it round her neck
and slowly
slowly
i lifted her cloak
from her shoulders
05
i remember how to cry
she wept
ashamed of her wings
ashamed because she was dead
i held her cloak
and dried her tears
then i too wept
and the blood of my soul
mixed with hers
on that cloak
no longer a burdensome peasant's shawl
but a shimmering gown
she looked into my eyes
as i wrapped it around her
and i saw new light dawn there
we wept once more
as we felt her heart
long stilled
beat again
06
i remember fear
her new heart
her new gown
her wings
they frightened her
"what if i wake up?"
"what if i'm dreaming?"
"the pain
the pain
it would kill me"
but you are awake
death was the dream
"you frighten me
your wings
your laugh
your eyes aflame"
to live is a risk
the heart that beats
is a dangerous heart
but the prize
oh the prize
07
i remember beauty
i let her be
slowly
slowly
she began to feel the sun
i simply drank her in
she came to me
took my hand
"what am i?
what do you see?"
i showed her what my eyes treasured
an angel
flowing hair
bright eyes alive eyes
a new unsure smile
and wings
pure white feathers
an angel
slowly slowly
ever so slowly
she spread her wings
"i don't want to be afraid anymore"
08
i remember the edge
walk with me
to the edge
atop Desolation
walk the cliffs with me
sunlight cuts our shadows
burns our secrets
hiding-places
look over into life
atop Desolation
clear its unimportance
vague reasons
dull society tarnished unused
standing on the edge
angels again for a moment
freed from the dream
fearful of new wings
hold my hand
and fall with me
fall with me
for we are truly angels again
fall with me
09
i remember paradise
we flew
every night
i'd braid new stars in her hair
and bright ribbons on her gown
the sky was our lover
father sun and mother moon
beheld their reborn children
cradled in each other's arms
and rejoiced at our love
just once
she turned her gaze
from mine
smiled at sun and moon
my wings faltered
the sky
my lover
released me
10
i remember falling
tumbling
through the night
frail moonbeams
cannot catch me
the cold dead earth
drinks the warmth from my bones
as i lie bleeding
my wings are shattered
what will i do
if i can never fly
again?
11
i remember pain
my head pounds
but it can't seem to
nail down the floor
as the room whirls away
beneath my sweating body
feathers litter the air
my broken wings no longer
pain me
i no longer fell
drunk on the dream
i fell to earth
i met another broken angel
even more wrapped in the dream
we danced in the dark (sex is evil)
drunk on the dark (evil is sin)
and for a while (sin is forgiven)
i forgot our former glory (so sex is in)
but now i remember
i remember
how far i fell
12
shivering
the memories do not warm me
the cold still calls
"sleep"
but i must wait
for her
i pray she will find me
before the cold takes me
and the snow covers me
will she burn her garland
her gown
on my pyre?
will she wrap her arms around me
cover my naked
broken body
with her wings
and die with me as the sun rises?
will she leave my heart
in the snow at my feet
and fly away?
"sleep"
13
eyes, look your last
for my time has come
at last
my light, my life
has fled from the last
hidden corners of my heart
the cold seeps in around my naked form
i saw her
flying overhead
her eyes turned toward the earth
as though searching
for me?
no
another rose to meet her
another flew in her light
as the last remnants of my wings
drift away on the breath of eternity...
...so doth my soul
01
shivering
i huddle beneath branches
like my body covered only with snow
my broken wings enfold me
but featherless
the wind cuts through
my dead heart slows
as my soul bleeds
the drops freezing
crystalline on my face
the sun has set
on my beautiful foreveroctober
and winter has come
its icydeath fingers
pierce me
i am dying
i want to watch the sunrise
before my end
the cold speaks to me
"sleep"
"to die to sleep is better"
"better than remembering"
"sleep"
but i remember
02
i remember my wings
a dead angel
reborn on earth
she showed me
my dead heart began to stir
i remembered my wings
tested them unfolded them
she watched me from afar
not believing
afraid
she touched my feathers
and sang of their beauty
but would not reveal her own
her wings kept hidden
beneath her cloak of memories
03
i remember how to fly
i grew daring
i looked on the faces of the dead
their eyes were dead
but they saw me
i was different
in my new heart
i knew
i could do so much
race the chariot of Apollo
court the tender moon
and return to earth with dawn
stars glittering in my hair
but not alone
never alone
i would not go
without her
04
i remember how to love
i went to her
i bared my soul
spread my wings
and took her by the hand
a gentle kiss smoothed her brow
i took my new heart
from my chest
wove it into a wedding garland
and placed it round her neck
and slowly
slowly
i lifted her cloak
from her shoulders
05
i remember how to cry
she wept
ashamed of her wings
ashamed because she was dead
i held her cloak
and dried her tears
then i too wept
and the blood of my soul
mixed with hers
on that cloak
no longer a burdensome peasant's shawl
but a shimmering gown
she looked into my eyes
as i wrapped it around her
and i saw new light dawn there
we wept once more
as we felt her heart
long stilled
beat again
06
i remember fear
her new heart
her new gown
her wings
they frightened her
"what if i wake up?"
"what if i'm dreaming?"
"the pain
the pain
it would kill me"
but you are awake
death was the dream
"you frighten me
your wings
your laugh
your eyes aflame"
to live is a risk
the heart that beats
is a dangerous heart
but the prize
oh the prize
07
i remember beauty
i let her be
slowly
slowly
she began to feel the sun
i simply drank her in
she came to me
took my hand
"what am i?
what do you see?"
i showed her what my eyes treasured
an angel
flowing hair
bright eyes alive eyes
a new unsure smile
and wings
pure white feathers
an angel
slowly slowly
ever so slowly
she spread her wings
"i don't want to be afraid anymore"
08
i remember the edge
walk with me
to the edge
atop Desolation
walk the cliffs with me
sunlight cuts our shadows
burns our secrets
hiding-places
look over into life
atop Desolation
clear its unimportance
vague reasons
dull society tarnished unused
standing on the edge
angels again for a moment
freed from the dream
fearful of new wings
hold my hand
and fall with me
fall with me
for we are truly angels again
fall with me
09
i remember paradise
we flew
every night
i'd braid new stars in her hair
and bright ribbons on her gown
the sky was our lover
father sun and mother moon
beheld their reborn children
cradled in each other's arms
and rejoiced at our love
just once
she turned her gaze
from mine
smiled at sun and moon
my wings faltered
the sky
my lover
released me
10
i remember falling
tumbling
through the night
frail moonbeams
cannot catch me
the cold dead earth
drinks the warmth from my bones
as i lie bleeding
my wings are shattered
what will i do
if i can never fly
again?
11
i remember pain
my head pounds
but it can't seem to
nail down the floor
as the room whirls away
beneath my sweating body
feathers litter the air
my broken wings no longer
pain me
i no longer fell
drunk on the dream
i fell to earth
i met another broken angel
even more wrapped in the dream
we danced in the dark (sex is evil)
drunk on the dark (evil is sin)
and for a while (sin is forgiven)
i forgot our former glory (so sex is in)
but now i remember
i remember
how far i fell
12
shivering
the memories do not warm me
the cold still calls
"sleep"
but i must wait
for her
i pray she will find me
before the cold takes me
and the snow covers me
will she burn her garland
her gown
on my pyre?
will she wrap her arms around me
cover my naked
broken body
with her wings
and die with me as the sun rises?
will she leave my heart
in the snow at my feet
and fly away?
"sleep"
13
eyes, look your last
for my time has come
at last
my light, my life
has fled from the last
hidden corners of my heart
the cold seeps in around my naked form
i saw her
flying overhead
her eyes turned toward the earth
as though searching
for me?
no
another rose to meet her
another flew in her light
as the last remnants of my wings
drift away on the breath of eternity...
...so doth my soul