365 Poems in 365 Days: Elf Poems 10
10. Later
The realm of the elves burnt to the ground
Shattered under the hammerblows of an enemy
That could not be withstood.
Great worms, flying horrors
Creatures from beneath the earth,
And from beyond the world we know.
Most fearsome of all, mortal men
Trained to hate us, cold iron in their grasp
And steel in their souls.
I did not mean to outlive my people’s kingdom.
A last battle, futile or glorious,
Rescuing me from my love and my despair,
Both centuries deep.
Instead help came.
When I woke, I felt embarrassed.
Stupid to try to die.
More stupid to fail.
But as I recover here
In this new country being built by elf and mortal
I see her daughter, and her grandchildren,
And I am glad to be alive.
This is the 10th Elf Poem, which I am posting first so that future readers will read them from 1 to 10, as most recent post will appear at the top of the page. Now it's all over, it should be clear that this is not really a love story or a war story or an end of the world story, although at times it's all three. My theme was immortality, so an immortal can dedicate multiple human lifetimes to love, and to war, and see the end of the world, and that's not everything about them. It's not even the start. Poem number 91.
The realm of the elves burnt to the ground
Shattered under the hammerblows of an enemy
That could not be withstood.
Great worms, flying horrors
Creatures from beneath the earth,
And from beyond the world we know.
Most fearsome of all, mortal men
Trained to hate us, cold iron in their grasp
And steel in their souls.
I did not mean to outlive my people’s kingdom.
A last battle, futile or glorious,
Rescuing me from my love and my despair,
Both centuries deep.
Instead help came.
When I woke, I felt embarrassed.
Stupid to try to die.
More stupid to fail.
But as I recover here
In this new country being built by elf and mortal
I see her daughter, and her grandchildren,
And I am glad to be alive.
This is the 10th Elf Poem, which I am posting first so that future readers will read them from 1 to 10, as most recent post will appear at the top of the page. Now it's all over, it should be clear that this is not really a love story or a war story or an end of the world story, although at times it's all three. My theme was immortality, so an immortal can dedicate multiple human lifetimes to love, and to war, and see the end of the world, and that's not everything about them. It's not even the start. Poem number 91.
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