The Builder's Ballad

Steady, strong, and still as time
The Stone calls to us all.
Measured not in days or seasons,
Its song resounds forever.

The Builders heard this ancient tune.
And put their hands to work.
Carving xanmeers from the rock,
So we would not forget.

Stone by stone and brick by brick
They built a wondrous home.
Enshrined within, the Builders knew
The lessons of the Stone.

But unlike Stone, the flesh is weak
Fallible to time.
The Builders crumbled into dust.
The Stone-Nest all that remains.

But the Stone remembers,
Carries with it lessons etched in time.
The xanmeers stand as strong as ever,
Memory carved in rock.

Steady, strong, and still as time
The Stone calls to us all.
Measured not in days or seasons,
Its song resounds forever.

* * *
Stone Beneath Us

My ancient home stands built on stone
Each brick a story, names and bone
Soon I will join these promised blocks
And sleep in my own hand-carved box

Will I choose to rebuild our walls
Protect my friends from storms and squalls
Or break ground for a new-built nest
Where eggs hatch over fires blessed

Perhaps a temple needs repairs
The time-worn steps of xanmeer stairs
Or, mend a mural that tells our tale
Of arriving here by marsh-stained sail

I think of my lover, now in stone
Who used her tomb to fix our home
Illness took her, sudden and swift
But a grave-stake, she said, can be a gift

I hold my stake in shaking claws
A choice to make for my last cause

Lay me where my grave-stake stands
I drove it down with my own hands
At rocky cliff or beachside hill
Where I will rest from dawn until
My stone crumbles and spirit rests
Within the Void without regrets

I hold my stake in shaking claws
A choice to make for my last cause