‘Twas on the shores of Nevermore
In now lost days that Eleanor
Sweet child of the western tide
Passed over to the primal side
Now Eleanor was fair of eye
Was soft of voice but far from shy
Her hair in golden ringlets laid
Of lilies was her pale flesh made
Her eyes were from the onyx wrought
Behind them were her lessons taught
Her breast adorned with ribboned lace
Her bosom seemed a sacred place
But none could sway this maiden’s heart
Despite their efforts skill or art.
She walked along the lake’s cool edge
She had seen from balconies ledge
When to her eyes a vision came
Of a man without honest claim
His body fair was not refined
Dark bronze and yet was underlined
With grace and true nobility
That goes beyond what man can see
And though her dress dragged in the sand
She approached, his name to demand
He stood and stared her in the eye
And she was shocked that he’d defy
“What name hast thou?” she asked again
“I have no name that’s known to men”
“What then shall I call you, sir?”
“Everything that you never were.”
“And what is it you know of me?”
“Your hardened heart could freeze the sea.”
She glared at him for his reply
How then could she prove it a lie?
She ran a finger down his chest
Then laid her hand upon her breast
“My life you’d lived, you’d harden to”
“Hard or soft is a choice to you”
She pondered this man’s honesty
And found the answer had to be
He had no fear of what she said
Though at her whim he would be dead
She looked into his basil eyes
That captivate and mesmerize
“and would you help to soften me,
To prove that what you say can be?”
Pleasantly he took hold her hand
And led her then along the sand
Until a hidden place they found
And there they sat upon the ground
He charmed her like none other had
Where others dressed he sat bare clad
His chest exposed to midday sun
Made her resistance come undone
They talked there until the sun stood high
They talked until her tongue was dry
Until the heat became to much
And she longed for the water’s touch
Together to the lapping waves
They went as t’wer their resting graves
For in the water they did find
Them-selves suspended intertwined
And then upon that hidden shore
They laid together for some more
Their bodies gleamed in evening sun
As soon they reveled in their fun
So with his ear against her breast
He heard her heart beat as he’d rest.
They stayed together through the night
But she was gone by mornings light.
The days went on and she denied
The child growing she did hide
Until one night upon the ledge
The man was sitting on the edge
A phantom come to claim his bride
He said “there is no way to hide.
For I am more than I appear
I hear your heart when far or near
I hear our hearts unborn delight
In the womb and out of my sight.
And I will follow till the end
Lest to the beast his son you send.
I’ll return the day he is born
Unless to death I am first sworn”
Then he leapt over marble rail
Unfurled bronze wings with witch to sail
Into the inky dark of night
And Eleanor prayed for the light
The next of days the hunt began
For this beast who stood like a man
This man who flew much like a beast
Father of monsters at the least.
For weeks they searched until they found
A dragon living underground
He growled at them with dignity
His bronze flesh flared for them to see
The battle raged, the beast subdued
Its treasures on the ground bestrewed
Its head upon the dirt was laid
But for its life it was well paid
For through the ground it heard the cry
Of the son for which he would die
Born a human he bore the mark
Of beastly heritage so dark
And though the dragon now was gone
His race in part would still live on.
In now lost days that Eleanor
Sweet child of the western tide
Passed over to the primal side
Now Eleanor was fair of eye
Was soft of voice but far from shy
Her hair in golden ringlets laid
Of lilies was her pale flesh made
Her eyes were from the onyx wrought
Behind them were her lessons taught
Her breast adorned with ribboned lace
Her bosom seemed a sacred place
But none could sway this maiden’s heart
Despite their efforts skill or art.
She walked along the lake’s cool edge
She had seen from balconies ledge
When to her eyes a vision came
Of a man without honest claim
His body fair was not refined
Dark bronze and yet was underlined
With grace and true nobility
That goes beyond what man can see
And though her dress dragged in the sand
She approached, his name to demand
He stood and stared her in the eye
And she was shocked that he’d defy
“What name hast thou?” she asked again
“I have no name that’s known to men”
“What then shall I call you, sir?”
“Everything that you never were.”
“And what is it you know of me?”
“Your hardened heart could freeze the sea.”
She glared at him for his reply
How then could she prove it a lie?
She ran a finger down his chest
Then laid her hand upon her breast
“My life you’d lived, you’d harden to”
“Hard or soft is a choice to you”
She pondered this man’s honesty
And found the answer had to be
He had no fear of what she said
Though at her whim he would be dead
She looked into his basil eyes
That captivate and mesmerize
“and would you help to soften me,
To prove that what you say can be?”
Pleasantly he took hold her hand
And led her then along the sand
Until a hidden place they found
And there they sat upon the ground
He charmed her like none other had
Where others dressed he sat bare clad
His chest exposed to midday sun
Made her resistance come undone
They talked there until the sun stood high
They talked until her tongue was dry
Until the heat became to much
And she longed for the water’s touch
Together to the lapping waves
They went as t’wer their resting graves
For in the water they did find
Them-selves suspended intertwined
And then upon that hidden shore
They laid together for some more
Their bodies gleamed in evening sun
As soon they reveled in their fun
So with his ear against her breast
He heard her heart beat as he’d rest.
They stayed together through the night
But she was gone by mornings light.
The days went on and she denied
The child growing she did hide
Until one night upon the ledge
The man was sitting on the edge
A phantom come to claim his bride
He said “there is no way to hide.
For I am more than I appear
I hear your heart when far or near
I hear our hearts unborn delight
In the womb and out of my sight.
And I will follow till the end
Lest to the beast his son you send.
I’ll return the day he is born
Unless to death I am first sworn”
Then he leapt over marble rail
Unfurled bronze wings with witch to sail
Into the inky dark of night
And Eleanor prayed for the light
The next of days the hunt began
For this beast who stood like a man
This man who flew much like a beast
Father of monsters at the least.
For weeks they searched until they found
A dragon living underground
He growled at them with dignity
His bronze flesh flared for them to see
The battle raged, the beast subdued
Its treasures on the ground bestrewed
Its head upon the dirt was laid
But for its life it was well paid
For through the ground it heard the cry
Of the son for which he would die
Born a human he bore the mark
Of beastly heritage so dark
And though the dragon now was gone
His race in part would still live on.
