The Moonlight Dance

By Frater Valak

Swirling, twirling, we danced all night,
My fingers caressing her arms,
(Her fiery eyes, they dance with light
Her beautiful smile disarms.)
We danced in moonlight fierce and fast
In the shadowy, silhouette woods.
Desperate moments short to last
Casting back from head our hoods.
She reached up with a feathery kiss
And hurtled me to the ground.
The world fell into a blue abyss;
She stared without a sound.
Bending over in lambent blue
From her eye fell a crystal tear;
Of sanctified blood, to be true;
To my chest, my heart. Its sear
A heat that rent my flesh, my will.
The jaundiced gaze of a raven leered ---
I can hear its laughter still.
My true love then disappeared.

It all began on a night in spring,
Life's sweet fragrance in the air,
Listening to the wilderness sing:
Were all the answers out there?
I stared at the stars, so bright that night,
A beauty that words can't define;
An awe came over me from that sight
I took it to be a sign.
My heart sent soaring, I started to sing
Out to the twinkling sky
And forest so dark; it surely did bring
A breeze, a whispering sigh.
I swear to you that out of the dark
I heard a beautiful voice;
A counterpoint within my air, no lark
I loved her then, and sang rejoice.
Ecstasy echoed across the early crisp
While leaning over the window sill
I gazed out at a will'o't'wisp;
A lantern, if you will.

Across the land you'll know the tale
Of flickering fireflies; of men
Who've worked with wood or sail
And never been seen again.
Beware the will'o't'wisp, they say,
The spark which glows in the gloom.
It'll lure you and your soul away.
It surely spells your doom!
I had no choice, I'd lost control,
For fair or foul the weather,
I had to meet this voice in my soul
And stay with her forever.
Donning my shirt, my boots, my vest,
I drew the drawstrings tight.
Rushed to my door in cloak and crest,
I set out into the night.
I topped the hill beyond the way
And startled an high-strung rabbit,
Then spotted my spark as bright as day
And went toward the sabbath.

My firefly darted low and high
Leading me through the wood
West and North, by judging the sky
I ran as fast as I could.
Ducking low branches and over a log
We skirted the edge of a creek
The sound of a raven came over a bog
I could hear him sharp'ning his beak.
The sounds and sights this night I'd seen
To vivid to not be real, I heard
Her voice once more at the edge of a ravine
But uttered she nary a word.
The strength of the calling louder now,
It withered by love for my wife.
Mine heart had I given, I did avow,
To this beautiful spirit, my life
If I could just see her under the moon
Standing in all her glory.
Ever would I be near to swoon
But never would I be sorry.

The light led to a hallowèd clearing
And promptly vanished, said plain.
The starlit circle was truly endearing
I knew that I must remain.
In the centre of the clearing of trees
Was erected an holy dais.
I took the steps and fell to my knees
And sang to my goddess in praise.
I chirped and chanted, and raved and ranted
Filling my voice with my soul.
I danced and spun e'en as I canted
My means to this nameless goal.
I raised my pitch up into the heaven
And fell into a trance.
A beautiful word and name, summed to eleven
And fell to my knees from the dance.
I placed mine hands on the altar face
And sacrificed all that I'd been.
I felt the truth of the deepest space
I tell only part, what I'd seen.

I came back slowly to holy ground
Energised was this haven.
But to my surprise, without a sound
Had landed before me the raven.
It's crow was laughter filled with mirth,
The humorous little trickster.
I understood from my rebirth
My passionate love was his sister.
He turned full circle, his wings upraised.
Verily, did he dance.
I shook my head, and thought I was crazed
But his piercing gaze was a lance.
They searched me deep, these jaundiced eyes
Serious without emotion.
Reading the truth (I had destroyed the lies)
Reflecting back an ocean.
Then with a loud and piercing cry
He took wing back into the trees.
Crowing happily, sailed into the sky
And left me alone with the breeze.

The moonlight shone, dappling the dais,
The forest appeared without hue.
The breeze turned into a humming, the haze
Turned into a mystical blue.
In shadow of tree silhouette did hover
And moved ever so delicately
Into the silver light stepped my lover
And stood there immaculately.
I gazed in rapture at my beautiful flower;
There was no hesitation.
No moment wasted in this blessèd hour,
I bowed in salutation.
She smiled in her perfect radiance,
Her lips were slightly parted.
She then stepped forward in regal stance
Whilst shadows around her darted.
I reached out my hand at her behest
And fell into her embrace.
I set my head to ease on her breast
And was silent for a space.

She whispered straight into my soul
That my tenderness was endearing.
'For all your life have you sought this goal,
Wherefore your eyes are tearing?'
I answered to her in like fashion
'These wondrous things I understand
'Have brought me to holy passion,'
(I heard the raven come to land)
'It's truly clear that the soul I'd had,
'Had climbed up out the abyss;
'And all the reason for my being sad
'Disappears with your tender kiss.'
She stroked my cheek and then my hair
With her silken fingertips.
Then tilted she mine head to the air
And pressed to mine the softest lips.
My soul then soared in ecstasy
As she laid me to the ground.
My life-force filled with eternity
As she loved me without a sound.

Her breasts were filled with the milk of the stars;
Her hair was gossamer.
Her body held infinite avatars,
Her belly as soft as a kitten's fur.
She filled my being with a vibrant kiss
She filled me with pleasure and pain
Ever was she a virgin in bliss
On the mossy carpet a blood stain
I drank of this blood, her sacrament;
The grin that she gave was salacious.
I soared with her through the firmament
The dream of my old life fallacious.
The raven he sat on the altar and crowed
In delight of the mysteries.
He cackled in time with the seed that was sowed
And ridiculed all of the histories
Of all of mankind, befuddled with fear,
Who'd hidden their lies behind sooth.
Never a blind man would ever come near
To the image I beheld in truth.

The hours were taxing, the shadows grew long,
My goddess was holding me close.
The raven was speaking of ages in song
And mimicked in tone and in pose,
Jauntily laughing, disclosed unto me
An ancient wiseman's secret true.
(There is no point in telling it, you see;
It wouldn't make sense to you.)
The end of the night was waxing near
An end to the evening of bliss
The darkness was surely turning to clear
And an end to my tale of a wonder is this.
We lay awhile in the clearing of trees
As she sang to me soft and low.
Her love-burning eyes reminisced of the seas
But I knew that she had to go.
The raven cackled, but sure understood.
My lover, she faded with grace.
I'd surely have gone with her if I could
But I'll always remember this place.