Dreamsongs: A Collection of Lyrical Ballads

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_Maksutov
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Re: Dreamsongs: A Collection of Lyrical Ballads

Post by _Maksutov »

grindael wrote:Shall I continue? Comments?


Please continue!
"God" is the original deus ex machina. --Maksutov
_grindael
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Re: Dreamsongs: A Collection of Lyrical Ballads

Post by _grindael »

Image

“And he dreamed and behold a ladder set up on the
earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold
the angels of God ascending and descending on it.”
—Genesis (circa 1400 B.C.E)


“And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star
fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given
the key of the pit of the abyss.”
—Revelation of John (circa 90 A.D.)

“And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not
find it; and shall desire to die, and death
shall flee from them.”
—Revelation of John (circa 90 A.D.)

"Truth! Truth! Truth! crieth the Lord of the Abyss of Hallucinations"
— Aleister Crowley, “The Book of Lies” (circa 1913 A.D.)

“Heed not the siren-voice of sense, or the phantom voice of reason:
Rest in simplicity, and listen to the silence.”
—Aliester Crowley, “The Book of Thoth” (circa 1944)

Image

i. gate

Lost from above
and left behind,
to search for the key
to paradise.

Stripped of precious
memory,
the gate stands locked
now you must find the key.

Though you’ve passed
this way before,
here you stand
at the threshold once more.

Lost from above
and chained to time,
to search for the key
to paradise.

Though you’ve passed
this way before,
here you stand
at the threshold once more.


ii. back in the wake-world

Open your eyes
try and comprehend,
it’s waiting for you
up around the bend.

Though the path behind
be littered with the dead,
the game is still afoot:
it’s not over ... yet.

Back in the wake-world
back in the time stream,
back in the artifice
of the waking dream


Open your eyes
try to think and perceive,
the vision and the voice
can he heard and be seen.

Though the path behind
be littered with the dead,
another passage opens:
it’s not over yet.

Back in the wake-world
back in the time stream,
back in the artifice
of the waking dream
Riding on a speeding train; trapped inside a revolving door;
Lost in the riddle of a quatrain; Stuck in an elevator between floors.
One focal point in a random world can change your direction:
One step where events converge may alter your perception.
_grindael
_Emeritus
Posts: 6791
Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2011 8:15 am

Re: Dreamsongs: A Collection of Lyrical Ballads

Post by _grindael »

iii. penance

Did you ever feel the silence
like a weight upon your soul,
thinking maybe it was penance
for the seeds you once had sown?

Seeing all the empty glances,
all the faces, all the same.
Caught up in circumstances
that they can never change.


Questioning the fabric
of this mortal sphere,
the things you once believed in
and held so dear.
Knowing they were only
a fleeting home,
thinking maybe you were
better off alone.

Did you ever feel the violence
born with a heart of stone,
thinking maybe it was penance
for the seeds you once had sown?

Seeing all the empty glances,
all the faces, all the same.
Caught up in circumstances
that they can never change.


Image

i. dregs of a poet's cup (i)

Under willow tree
within a shady vale,
time seems to stand still
as the daylight doth fail.

Drawn again to reverie
(for the mind’s eye never sleeps),
I can’t help once more treasuring
the things I have seen:

Birds in flight,
majestic nights
where stars blaze down
in glory.
City life
full of unrest
and strife,
have moved the
spirit within me.


A sonnet or a lyrical ballad:
dregs of a poet’s cup,
can be compassionate or callous
if you are devout or just used up.

Making rhythm like a melody
or discordant as a raucous song,
these dregs reveal the imagery
that moves us all along.

ii. beguiled (i)

I saw your face,
I saw your eyes
Deep-rooted in their own guise.
Where shadows play
across a heart of stone,
born when seeds of discontent
were sown.

A careless state
of elusive grace.
beguiling those
who do partake.
While those who stand
and for them wait
gain no reprieve
from love and hate.


I saw your face,
I saw your eyes
steadfast but preoccupied.
Where timeless beauty
and ageless charm,
were once at rest
but now are gone.
Riding on a speeding train; trapped inside a revolving door;
Lost in the riddle of a quatrain; Stuck in an elevator between floors.
One focal point in a random world can change your direction:
One step where events converge may alter your perception.
_grindael
_Emeritus
Posts: 6791
Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2011 8:15 am

Re: Dreamsongs: A Collection of Lyrical Ballads

Post by _grindael »

iii. lucid beauty

I know where magik dwells.
Sometimes you see it’s not
so hard to tell.
I know where beauty lives.
Your eyes can’t hide the love
you long to give.

The love you cannot hide
will find it’s rightful place
to abide.
I wonder if you see
how much of you still lives
inside of me?


Though we may try uncounted times
until all else has failed,
if love is not enough to turn
the tide, what then,
do you think it will entail?

I’ve just begun to pray
that you will see that love
must find a way.
Though you may never know,
it all depends on where you want to go.

The love I cannot hide
may find it’s rightful place
to abide.
You wonder if I know,
how much you want for me
to let it show.


What if you stay –
can what we have hold on
though all that we have sown?
Will you become just
another dreamsong
I have known?

What if we find
a way to break the chains
time will unfold?
How do we see?
How do we learn?
Just how do we know?

Though we may try uncounted times
until all else has failed,
if love is not enough to turn
the tide, what then
do you think it will entail?

The love you cannot hide
will find it’s rightful place
to abide.
I wonder if you see
how much of you still lives
inside of me?


iv. the vision and the voice

See with the mind’s eye
those lost and chained to time
Awaiting full recompense
for the loss of their innocence.

Life is stages
so many pages,
often only glanced upon
before they are gone.
Like a book
sometimes re-read,
but all too often
dust and cobwebs
in the reaches of the mind,
bound tightly by
the chains of time.


The vision is serendipity:
a voice inside of you and me.
Leading perhaps to serenity
and all the things that we may be.
Riding on a speeding train; trapped inside a revolving door;
Lost in the riddle of a quatrain; Stuck in an elevator between floors.
One focal point in a random world can change your direction:
One step where events converge may alter your perception.
_grindael
_Emeritus
Posts: 6791
Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2011 8:15 am

Re: Dreamsongs: A Collection of Lyrical Ballads

Post by _grindael »

v. the child-voice of love

Sickle moon hangs in the twilight
muted and ethereal in the starless sky.
Wreathed like my heart on this autumn night
by the clouds and mist that around her fly.

Sense of direction skewed out of place,
I feel like I’ve been here before:
New outlook, new face but the same chains
binding me tightly once more.


Lovely are eyes first stirring with love,
a quickening tempest igniting the soul.
Heady winds that move us and lift us
higher than where we would normally go.

Chaining me once again to time
is the touch and the feel of that love,
like a child-voice innocent and undefined:
a promise of what it may become.

The night sky is barren once again
Autumn winds now unsuitable company.
Emotion (like the moon) having fled,
though she inspired my brief reverie.

Sense of direction skewed out of place,
all alone like I’ve been before.
New outlook, new face but the same chains
binding me tightly once more.


Lost again and left behind
while the touch and the feel of that love,
like a child-voice innocent and undefined
passes through me like a ghost.

vi. the siren-voice of sense

Splendor of the night sky;
wonder of the earth below:
like the changing of the leaves
when the autumn winds do blow.

Encompassing our reason
making play our intellect,
the many changing seasons
make us ponder and reflect.

Still who are we but denizens
of this earthly plane?
Just transient ruling citizens
in mortality thus chained?


Another living memory
unique and special as they come,
unfettered from the spirit-world:
a song as yet unsung.

Reborn here in corruption
it is wisdom that we seek.
And our arrogant assumptions
make us strong when we are weak.

Encompassing our reason
making play our intellect,
dividing wisdom and emotion:
the siren-voice of sense.

And though we may hear the voice
it is often not enough,
leaving us with little choice
concerning those we come to love.

Still who are we but denizens
of this earthly plane?
Just transient ruling citizens
in mortality thus chained?


vii. the phantom-voice of reason

The earth: but a footstool
to those who have gone before;
hidden wisdom, the precious jewel:
a key to unlock any door?

Revealed by the Guardians of Paradise
to those compelled to find,
how long it takes to pay the price
of living with the ties that bind.

But when the door is locked
and you cannot find the key,
you are left to wander in the dark
longing finally to be set free.


While the phantom-voice of reason
to enlightened souls may speak,
it is all too often silent
inside minds that run too dark and deep.

Who search for what they cannot find
innocent and naïve,
until captured by the chains of time
and left with only dreams.

But when the door is locked
and you cannot find the key,
you are left to wander in the dark
longing finally to be set free.
Riding on a speeding train; trapped inside a revolving door;
Lost in the riddle of a quatrain; Stuck in an elevator between floors.
One focal point in a random world can change your direction:
One step where events converge may alter your perception.
_grindael
_Emeritus
Posts: 6791
Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2011 8:15 am

Re: Dreamsongs: A Collection of Lyrical Ballads

Post by _grindael »

viii. the sword of song

If there’s a reason to love
I haven’t found it.
If there’s a rhyme to life
I’m searching for it.
Though the sounds just come to me
the words a sweet accompany:
They still haven’t set me free.

The sword of song
hangs o’er my head.
The road is long
beaten down and unkempt.
The blade is sharp
and brightly shines.
Piercing the soul:
chaining me to time.


There is wonder
and there is innocence.
There are dreamsongs
running through my head.
There is beauty to see
in moments of lucidity,
when the darkness leaves
and her light shines on me.

If there’s a reason to love
I still haven’t found it.
If there’s a rhyme to life
I try to express it.
Though the sounds just come to me
the words a sweet accompany:
They still haven’t set me free.

The sword of song
hangs o’er my head.
The road is long
beaten down and unkempt.
The blade is sharp
and brightly shines.
Piercing the soul:
chaining me to time.
Riding on a speeding train; trapped inside a revolving door;
Lost in the riddle of a quatrain; Stuck in an elevator between floors.
One focal point in a random world can change your direction:
One step where events converge may alter your perception.
_grindael
_Emeritus
Posts: 6791
Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2011 8:15 am

Re: Dreamsongs: A Collection of Lyrical Ballads

Post by _grindael »

Image

i. dregs of a poet’s cup (ii)

Under willow tree
within a shady vale,
the night-time doth encompass me
as the light forsakes the dale.

Lost inside of memories
images and feelings,
that softly fade into dreams
as somnolence o’er me steals.

Once so bright
those city lights,
how they have
called to me.
Adolescent flight
that terrible plight:
believing that I
was free.


But I was only
lost in the wake-world
and chained to time,
estranged by the loneliness
of the ties that bind.

ii. beguiled (ii)

I saw your face.
I saw your eyes
deep-rooted in their own guise.
Where shadows play
across all redemption and hope:
the reflection dark and occult.

iii. masks

Life can take away the wonder
until you are filled with despair.
Change you into someone new
who no longer cares.
Full of emptiness from the neglect,
full of emptiness full of regrets.

Still all of us give a little
to those that we love,
take the time to laugh and cry
and make them smile.


Life can take away emotion
leaving you with fear and doubt.
Take away the magik
you thought you couldn’t live without.
Lost in the darkness from the light,
Lost in the sadness wrong or right.

Still all of us die a little
for those we love,
Change inside, cheat and lie
or run and hide.


Becoming someone we never knew
who no longer cares,
the price we pay for living
is the masks we have to wear.
Full of emptiness from the neglect,
full of emptiness, full of regrets.

The price we pay for loving ...
Riding on a speeding train; trapped inside a revolving door;
Lost in the riddle of a quatrain; Stuck in an elevator between floors.
One focal point in a random world can change your direction:
One step where events converge may alter your perception.
_grindael
_Emeritus
Posts: 6791
Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2011 8:15 am

Re: Dreamsongs: A Collection of Lyrical Ballads

Post by _grindael »

iv. how many times?

Dawn breaks on the horizon:
sky is clear blue after the rain,
road is still slick but I’m still drivin’
cause I can’t get away from the pain.

How many times will I be forgotten,
lost in the winds of passing time?
How many times, how many times?
How many times will I pay the price
of living with the ties that bind?
how many times, how many times?


Love is a way we feel inside
takes you to places you never know.
And when it’s over, when it dies
it’s so damn hard to let it go.

How many times will the darkness come,
fingers reaching to strangle my soul?
How many times, how many times?
How many times must I pay the price
only to be left out in the cold?
How many times, how many times?


Sun is shining on a brand new day:
sky is clear blue like her eyes.
Though I try to believe, to find a way,
I’m trapped in the past and chained to time.

How many times will I be forgotten,
bound in the chains of passing time?
How many times, how many times?
How many times will I pay the price
of living with the ties that bind?
How many times, how many times?


v. all that now remains


Something happens to the reasons
and things are not the same,
She tells you that she’s sorry
and that you’re not the one to blame.

She wonders if you’ll hate her:
if you’ll really understand,
hoping maybe you’ll forget her
and that she pretended to give a damn.

And you get caught up
in the darkness,
as you call out her name,
the night is all around you
but it cannot hide the pain.


Something lost in the translation:
you know exactly what was said,
nothing left except the silence
a very cold and lonely bed.

Dancing close
to the edge of madness,
as you call out her name,
the night is all around you
all that now remains.

And maybe you’ll survive,
but what will turn the tide?
All that now remains
is a love that has died.
All that now remains
is a love that has died.

And you get caught up
in the darkness,
as you call out her name,
the night is all around you
but it cannot hide the pain.
Riding on a speeding train; trapped inside a revolving door;
Lost in the riddle of a quatrain; Stuck in an elevator between floors.
One focal point in a random world can change your direction:
One step where events converge may alter your perception.
_grindael
_Emeritus
Posts: 6791
Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2011 8:15 am

Re: Dreamsongs: A Collection of Lyrical Ballads

Post by _grindael »

Image

i. falling

Unlock the chains
of the ties that bind,
falling, falling
in the stream of time.
Down to black water
where there is no light,
down to the depths
of an endless night.

Riding the waves
then drowning in sorrow,
nothing I can beg for,
steal or borrow.

Unlock the secrets
inside of me,
falling, falling
at the foot of thee.
Along for the ride
you had no destination,
then you got off
at the wrong station.

Train is rollin’
and I can’t turn back,
just waiting now
to run it off the tracks.

It’s never easy
taking a fall.
It’s never easy
losing it all.
Hearts are branded
with rage and shame.
Hearts are stranded
wounded and maimed.


Unwelcome inside
of one I can’t touch,
knowing I loved her
a little too much.

Unlock the chains
of the ties that bind,
falling, falling
into dark designs.
Believing illusions:
lies to the soul,
alone with the memories
that leave you cold.

Raising the blade
wrong or right,
I make the cut
and fall
into the night.

It’s never easy
taking a fall.
It’s never easy
losing it all.
Falling, falling
down into the pit.
Falling, falling
into the abyss.


Falling, falling
in the stream of time.
Descending angel
chained to time.

ii. dark descent

There’s a hole in my head
that lets in the dark.
It covers my soul
and reaches for the heart.

There’s no one around
who really understands,
the doom hanging over me
and what the future demands.

Caught in the reaches of the abyss
it’s like time out of mind,
nothing in sync, all is amiss:
A descending angel chained to time.

Stumbling about in the dark
I just keep missing the mark,
questioning the ties that bind
and the memories I can’t leave behind.

On the brink of a deep pit:
poised at the top of a precipice,
unbalanced and close to the edge
I am forced into its shadowy depths.

Compelled and driven by those around me
haunted by moments of lucid beauty,
unnerved at what no longer remains
while darkness waits to cover the pain.

Caught in the reaches of the abyss
it’s like time out of mind.
Nothing in sync, all is amiss:
Descending angel, chained to time.


Feeling this way again and again:
something calling, inviting me in.
Drawing me close to the dark night
where unwoven dreamsongs drift out of sight.

Their broken threads left in disarray
undefined in this time and place,
as the time stream carries me on and on
darkness beckons, never far.

Restless perhaps at these lengthy delays
and at those who hope to keep it at bay,
waiting till they too are worn away
to make the descent as best they may.

Caught in the reaches of the abyss
it’s like time out of mind.
Nothing in sync, all is amiss:
Descending angel, chained to time.


iii. abyss

I am tired.
I am spent.
All that’s left
is the dark descent.

Once willing
to be strong,
no point now
in going along.

For the message of the truth
all too well I’ve understood,
in the memories I have retained
all that ever will remain.


I am fallen.
I am alone.
One with the darkness
that steals the soul.

Bright star fallen
into the pit,
clutching the key
to the abyss.

For the message of the truth
all too well I’ve understood,
in the memories I have retained
all that ever will remain.
Riding on a speeding train; trapped inside a revolving door;
Lost in the riddle of a quatrain; Stuck in an elevator between floors.
One focal point in a random world can change your direction:
One step where events converge may alter your perception.
_grindael
_Emeritus
Posts: 6791
Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2011 8:15 am

Re: Dreamsongs: A Collection of Lyrical Ballads

Post by _grindael »

iv. times chains

Is this the end my love?
The dark descent my love?
is this the end?


Time has her chains,
come what may,
We live in loneliness,
we live in pain.
Time has her names,
the night, the day.
We live in separateness,
we live in vain.

Is this the end my love?
The dark descent my love?
Is this the end?


Time has her chains,
but where is the key?
The shadows of paradise
are all I can see.
Time has no conscience,
no way to grieve:
The shadows of paradise
are still haunting me.

Is this the end my love?
The dark descent my love?
Is this the end?


v. crying (ii)

I know you’re leaving,
that you can’t stay.
Baby I’m not one
to stand in your way.

When someone doesn’t need you
and you know they won’t lie,
one of you will live
and another will die.

She opened doors
I had to close.
She said the words
I don’t want to know.
She gave me memories
I can never forget.
She broke my heart
on the day we met.


No there isn’t anything
I can ever do,
to change the way
that I feel about you.

When someone tells you good bye
and you know the reasons why,
one of you will forget
and the other will cry.

She showed me love
that I can’t return.
She took me down roads
from which I must turn.
She lifted me high
and then let me fall.
She gave me everything
and then nothing at all.


And my spirit is crying.
My spirit is crying,
crying, crying ...

She opened doors
I had to close.
She said the words
I don’t want to know.
She gave me memories
I can never forget.
She broke my heart
on the day we met.
Riding on a speeding train; trapped inside a revolving door;
Lost in the riddle of a quatrain; Stuck in an elevator between floors.
One focal point in a random world can change your direction:
One step where events converge may alter your perception.
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