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The Ballad of the Lonely Huntersmature

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We came a long way, but where are we now?

Somewhere we have never been is foreign somehow

And I don’t think we belong in this strange place.

But I still remember when we were young and bright

When that one day we stayed out in the yard all night
 

I laughed and ducked when he rubbed dirt on my face,

Then reached over to touch me, gentle and slow

And I thought of a memory, from years ago…

…of two kids sharing a lollipop with rainbow swirls.

I loosened my fingers I had so tightly curled

I was faintly dazzled stupid in the glinting glare,

While I got silly and dizzy in our unbroken stare.

He leaned over, laughing, into my long, tangled hair

And he breathed against my stone chilled ear,

And he whispered warm words ever so softly…

 

Take this message to your grave;

We were lovers since we were born,

Though we never knew it ‘til now

And all of our pasts we can cast away,

Wherever and ever we are torn.

We’ll make our mischief and burn this town,

And forever and ever you’ll be mine.

 

The next afternoon he took my two shaking hands,

While we stood in the dusk, just as the heron stands,

And he led me to the red bluffs, by the sea

Where we saw all the children, playing on the beach

As they swam out, to see how far they could reach,

While we whispered to each other, quietly

And I thought of us, when we were so young;

I knew he loved me when he stuck out his tongue,

But love meant something different, then -

That we were friends since we were nine or ten.

It’s so different now, a whole other world,

He isn’t that same boy; I’m no longer a girl,

Sharing the lollipop with the rainbow swirls

We know it now, and we want the world to know

And he yelled out, over the bluff, to the crashing sea…

 

Take this message to your watery graves!

We were lovers since we were born,

Though we never knew it ‘til now!

Into the sea, our pasts we can cast away,

We will never, ever, ever be torn!

We’ll make our mischief and burn this town,

And forever and ever she’ll be mine!

 

Two years later, we found ourselves there again;

He was older, as we were bound by times of men.

If we’d had our way, we would have never changed

We would had stopped time eternal, frozen the hours,

We’d make our home in a fortress built of ivory towers

And live in the timelessness of the sorry and strange.

But we never really had time to worry about aging,

While we stood in the crossfire in the battle’s raging

The two warring factions, we drowned ourselves in

And our frightened screams were lost under the din;

We tried to run, to escape the churning, clashing fray,

But when we turned to break free, we couldn’t get away

So he turned to me calmly, said he had something to say

The noise of the two endless armies dulled in our ears

They leaned in to listen, as his cracking voice spoke

 

By the sword, take this message to your graves;

We were lovers since we were born,

Though we never even knew it until now

All of our pasts we can lose in these bloody days,

Wherever and ever we are torn.

We’ll make our mischief and burn this town,

And forever and ever you’ll be mine.

 

But the armies laughed, a vile, violent sound,

And we drew our bent bows, for the final round.

Just two lonely hunters, who had been not alone

As long as we were together, we were life’s gold inside,

And together we hunted, and together we cried,

But our victory cry was no use to the writhing stone

For years we’d lived in music and we’d spoken in color,

And I had always cried when the last songs were over

I don’t even remember just when we woke,

Years and years ago, when the rainbow broke

He just held my damp face and stroked my coarse hair

And assured me of something that would never be there

And for days, resigned silence was our fetid fare

But with fears buried in the future, I strained a smile

And he faintly murmured into my hair, breathlessly…

 

We’ll take this message to our graves;

We were lovers since the stars were born,

Though we never even thought it ‘til now,

We will be loners, rebels, castaways,

Whenever and ever and ever we’re torn.

Watch the world burn and laugh at this town,

And forever and ever you’ll be mine.

 

We knew - oh we knew - for years we had known,

Like dogs lying in wait for the last clean-picked bone

But we got none and retreated, tired, hungry, and sore,

With our bony tails between our shivering legs.

We’d drunk the last draught down to the dregs,

Were thrown in the streets, facing that last closed door

And I thought it kind of fitting, that as I cried,

We sang and tried so hard to laugh… we tried

And our lost plans of trips to Nevernever Land,

Trickled through my wasted fingers, like sand.

It all goes back to the swirled sugary rainbow,

Because between us, the load was easier to tow;

We were just kids then, with nothing to follow.

His mouth worked silently, face fading in and out

And he hoarsely cried to the silence, desperately…

 

Take this kiss and this message to your grave;

That we were lovers since we were born,

Though we never even seemed to know it, ‘til now

And all of our dull pasts we can just cast away,

Wherever and ever and ever we are torn.

We will laugh and watch the buildings burn down,

And wherever and ever you’ll be mine.

We made our mischief.

I will burn this town.

And forever and ever you’re mine.

The End

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Lyre Prose version to go with poem. Hope it clarifies.

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