Of Shadow and Song

By byrdgirl

I. Firelight

Playful flames, flickering, flowing.

Dancing shadows, stretching, growing

All for the camp; the gypsy band

of travelers and dreamers from every land.

And on the fire a restless log

sends orange sparks into the night fog.

Then a breeze disturbs the air

shifting focus over there

where the oldest trees whisper, and shadows grow long,

to the Bardess, the Princess, and Warrior, strong.

Their journeyÕs begun and they do not know

Where their destined path will go.

She sings of the dreams that she holds in her heart.

She sings without end and has sung without start.

She sings of her journey, so painful and long.

She is the Bardess of shadow and song.

II. Starlight

They rest for a while in grass, cool and damp,

the firelight faded from that distant camp.

But lying back, their eyes are alight

as they gaze above at the stars shinning bright.

And they talk for a time of the places theyÕve been,

of the prairies and mountains and valleys between.

The warrior, Bardess and Princess, fair,

continue on with their journey, where

they cross the Bridge of Impossible Dreams

and the BardessÕ heart grows heavy, it seems.

For sheÕs heard this song, and knows how it ends.

By morning sheÕll have to depart from her friends.

She sings of the dreams that she holds in her heart.

She sings without end and has sung without start.

She sings of her journey, so painful and long.

She is the Bardess of shadow and song.

III. Moonlight

Under the harvest moonÕs pale glow.

They come to the place where the magic things go;

where fairies hide in the old willow tree

as the travelers pass, careless and free.

A wild place, a place of power,

with thoughts and memories kept safe in its bower.

They let the wild run free though their veins

and for a moment, theyÕre free of their pains.

It moves them to dance, to sing and to heal;

to hear, to see and let laughter peel.

When the wild turns them and leaves with a wail,

and the silver lullaby moon starts to pale,

they fall to that place between sleep and awake;

a place as real as any man could make.

The moon slips away with a soft lilting tune,

to make way for the sun, which will rise much too soon.

She sings of the dreams that she holds in her heart.

She sings without end and has sung without start.

She sings of her journey, so painful and long.

She is the Bardess of shadow and song.

IV. Sunlight

The sunlight, sparkling high

makes nighttime fantasies fly.

Mysterious shadows turn back into stone,

and it bleaches your dreams to the bone.

For the Princess and Warrior, their love finally forms;

a love that will weather all battles and storms.

They will face obstacles; their pathÕs not yet clear,

but they have each other, so they have no fear.

The Bardess will sing their song now and then

as she wanders the world, alone once again.

And so the Bardess travels on,

to be a part of another song.

She sings of the dreams that she holds in her heart.

She sings without end and has sung without start.

She sings of her journey, so painful and long.

She is the Bardess of shadow and song.