:: Black Waters Run Deep ::

I am a sailor, through and through, A man of salt, of rope, of oceans blue; And aye, these eyes have wandered still where beauty bends any man's mortal will. I've watched the Sirens grace the shore and heard their songs ten thousand more; I've known the smile, the fleeting flame, a pretty face, but forgotten name.

But if beauty be only flesh, A shallow tide forever fresh, then why should I unmoor at all, Or heed the distant ocean's call? For near the shore the waters gleam, hot and sultry beneath the noonday beam; There laughter dances in the spray, where little children splash and play their day away.

The shallows ask no sailor's nerve, no faith in stars, no course to serve. No blackened squall, no moonless night, no trusting what lies out of sight. But I was born beneath the Crown, where darker truths are written down; Where Hashan's towers pierce the night, And Shadow teaches stranger sight. We know that darkness is not naught, nor emptiness where ends all thought. Within the places shunned by day Are truths the sunlight burns away. So, if you speak to me of love, speak not of what is seen above. Speak not alone of lips and skin, but of the fathoms held within.

Then loose the lines. Cast off that shore. Let shallow waters tempt no more. Turn prow from harbour, lamp, and lee, and sail the black and trackless sea. Let Twilight drown the western flame. Let Shadow swallow star and name. Let even Nerei's waters cease to promise sailors deaths gentle peace.

For there are depths where blue turns black, where once you've sailed, there's no course back; Where sunlight dies a league above, and all that's left is trustand love. There, in that cold abyssal deep, are promises the brave may keep. No painted flesh, no passing bliss, no harbour-born and easy kiss.

There waits the heart stripped bare of guise, Beyond the reach of mortal eyes; And only one who dares descend may learn where flesh and Shadow end. So, call me sailor. Call me a man. I've loved the shore as sailors can. I've watched its beauties come and go Like foam upon the undertow. But I would rather lose the sun, and sail where blackest waters run, than spend my life where anchors lie, content to watch the world go by. For beauty's fair upon the shore, and flesh may leave a man wanting more; But love true love is fathoms deep, Where Shadow's oldest secrets sleep.

So cast me off from sheltered lands. Put rope and darkness in my hands. Beyond the Crown, beneath the stars, Past Hashan's walls and harbour bars. I'll sail until the blue turns black, with neither fear nor looking back. For somewhere in that lightless sea, beyond what my mortal eyes can see,

Where Shadow meets the endless deep, and ancient, silent waters sleep There waits no shallow, fleeting kiss. There waits a heart as deep as His. And if I find that heart below, where only those who dare may go, I'll cast my anchor in the abyss

And call the darkness
bliss.

Penned by my hand on the 1st of Valnuary, in the year 1011 AF.