Red Moon poetry
28 September 2015 03:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
igenlodeI wrote this in my teens; so far as I remember, the reaction I got was 'I never heard of that before -- is it a real legend?' Which was flattering in a way, as I'd made the whole thing up as I went along...
I was a bloodthirsty child!
A strange light — a wild light —
And more than I could know —
The bloody light of sunrise
On disaster long ago.
Men fought and died in thousands
'Neath the War-moon, riding high,
Whose ghastly light inflamed them
And suffused the livid sky.
Brother killing sister,
Mother, father slaying son,
While the dreadful moon shone downward
And the night was but begun.
A sick light — a cruel light
That no-one could withstand —
A murder by the War-moon's light
Brought anguish to the land.
Bloodshed in such moonlight
Became maddened civil war,
And all attacked their nearest
And those they loved before.
They would have slain each other
While any still drew breath —
But a kindly god took pity
And sent dawn to end the death.
A red light — a clean light —
The War-moon quenched by sun —
And men's eyes lost their madness
And saw what they had done.
Thus it was I saw them
In the red-hued wild light —
It seemed the sun was mourning
For the slaughter of the night —
Bewildered, frightened, haunted,
As the moon died in the morning,
They gave thanks amid their weeping
For the god's gift of the dawning.
A strange light — a wild light —
And none to tell me why —
For none that knew the painting's tale
Were left beneath the sky.
I was a bloodthirsty child!
Der Kriegsmond
A strange light — a wild light —
And more than I could know —
The bloody light of sunrise
On disaster long ago.
Men fought and died in thousands
'Neath the War-moon, riding high,
Whose ghastly light inflamed them
And suffused the livid sky.
Brother killing sister,
Mother, father slaying son,
While the dreadful moon shone downward
And the night was but begun.
A sick light — a cruel light
That no-one could withstand —
A murder by the War-moon's light
Brought anguish to the land.
Bloodshed in such moonlight
Became maddened civil war,
And all attacked their nearest
And those they loved before.
They would have slain each other
While any still drew breath —
But a kindly god took pity
And sent dawn to end the death.
A red light — a clean light —
The War-moon quenched by sun —
And men's eyes lost their madness
And saw what they had done.
Thus it was I saw them
In the red-hued wild light —
It seemed the sun was mourning
For the slaughter of the night —
Bewildered, frightened, haunted,
As the moon died in the morning,
They gave thanks amid their weeping
For the god's gift of the dawning.
A strange light — a wild light —
And none to tell me why —
For none that knew the painting's tale
Were left beneath the sky.