Spirits of Old

[I]
I know of a place, past the pillars of stone
Where the oaks stand tall and gold leaves fall on pathways far from home
Where the spirits of an older world still peacefully rest
Where the roots become the slender bones and the air their sacred flesh

I know of a place, far in the hills
Where air tastes like nectar and waters stand still
So I'll leave behind in ash and smoke history's bloody folds
And I'll go to where still reign the Spirits of Old

Oak! Come to me!
Fens! I call to thee!
Earth! Bury me!
Raze me from thy memory!

Sky! Swallow me!
The sun shall keep me company
Till the Spirits come, in night's raiment
To birth the stars anew!

You've lain here for a thousand winters, dreaming under pitch black skies
We stacked our stones on ancient altars, reaching for your silver lights
And I will scream my grief forever, in the darkness you've adorned
For your love and for your beauty, stolen by the blazing dawn

There once was a place, an old forest glade
Where ancient souls gathered, where sorrow would fade
Then your leaves all wilted, your fires went cold
I'll find you, I'll rest with the Spirits of Old

[II]
An old man wanders in a nameless world, he gazes to the fallows
Upon the shores of a silver lake, he wades out to the shallows
And far above the Spirits soar, all risen from their barrows
They call him down into the murky depths, to sail into the shadows

He stumbles forward at the turn of night
He cries for fire in the dying light
He'll watch the world from the skies above
With endless horror but undying love
Bringing flames of August, singing songs of May
He'll return someday, when the lights all fade away

[III]
My path leads me unto a landscape forlorn
Bleak forest, an end to my final sojourn
And truth unveiled as I arrive:
An empty glade bereft of life
The soil lies frozen neath hollowed out fells
As trees bare and blackened all rot in their shells
Never again to reveal their pasts
You'll find me with the stars!

So frozen winds swept all that remained
Stirring the fire and dust left in our wake

Your wandering souls shine in the sky
As spring days turn to summer nights, as summers pass me by
As autumn fades and leaves the land in eternal winter's hold
O, this world has no place for the Spirits of Old!

But forevermore you'll blaze in the night
My starmap to your endless halls beyond our mortal sight
I'll step onto your astral path, I'll go with morning's gold
And you'll find me where still reign the Spirits of Old!