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One With The Moon
Near the menacing edge of a darkened wood
A place where the sun dare not venture
There lived a strange man whom none understood
And his home none but he ever entered

His home was simple though two stories high
With a garden and old wooden shed
It would've looked haunted except for the light
That came on after dark, until bed

The town nearby held a trove of strange rumors
Of the reason he stayed there alone
Things like being a wizard or raw flesh consumer
And if seen he would turn you to stone

The kids in the town, as the young often do
Made a trek there as a brave right of passage
They would try to get close, as to catch one glimpse through
A window while fear danced on their visage

Each Hallow's Eve night they would gather together
At The oldest oak tree in the valley
Come rain or shine. It didn't matter the weather
Once their posse had begun to rally

The man never caused trouble so the fears seemed unjust
When in town he would never converse
So I never saw reason to make such a fuss
Yet the rumors were never dispersed

Then came the day it was my turn to go
So to show my fear wasn't my master
I'd sneak to the house. Peak through the window
And escape afterwards somewhat faster

This time there were five in the group of brave lads
We were ready to show up each other
Seven others did join us we were hardly a scad
And we were all twelve built into a pother

We started the journey a bit before dark
It was over a mile to our target
We'd have to be quiet Once we saw the landmark
An old fence that surrounded a garden

It took 'round an hour to get through the thickets
The path through them wasn't much trodden
But the house was in view as we heard evening crickets
And the path had then begun to broaden

The seven stayed back as we five started forward
Like comrades in arms we pressed on
But soldiers we weren't, we were wayward explorers
Now just four cause the fifth one was gone

One more took off and our stride slowed a bit
As our closeness was thinning the herd
But three became two as he silently left
No screaming or gasp. Not a word.

It was up to us two now to win at this contest
I'll admit my own caution had grown
My remaining brave ally was kind of a twit
His senses, I think, stayed at home

Now I wouldn't run but he turned and he smiled
Thinking he might just scale up the gutter
My breath almost stopped for a short little while
as he climbed up and peaked through the shutters

My tale may seem trivial, to this point unimportant
But I'll never forget what came next
My companions adventure now seemingly mordant
As he fell with a crack from his leg

The other ten kids now all white as a ghost
As a candle was lit in a room
They wanted to run from that garden fence post
But they wanted to see us both doomed

So they watched as a man walked out the front door
Towards the place I stood by this downed fool
I just stood like a statue wondering what was in store
If I freeze he may think me a buhl

The rumors had never made me feel that afraid
But my terror took hold for a moment
As he neared our eyes met and they seemed to dissuade
The panic like a visual foment

He turned towards the young man in shock on the ground
He'd passed out from the pain and the fear
I still hadn't moved but he looked all around
I guess the others had all disappeared

"I'm not sure what you're doing on a night like tonight
Sneaking around at my window
But you'll have to come help me get your friend here inside
His injuries are bad. I can help though"

My fear was all gone as I helped this strange man
Carry daredevil into the house
Well we wanted to see everything that we can
So I'm guessing that tonight I'd find out

We took him inside to a lowly made table
That seemed more for doctors than food
We got him laid out but we still were unable
To wake him from his shock induced snooze

"Tonight is a night that my life will transform
I can finally forget my regrets.
I'll move to a new plain and be then reborn
So i guess there's no point in secrets"

I looked at him puzzled, his non-sensical words
Seemed to stop me again in my tracks
It was the way that he said it not the things that I heard
That convinced me he wouldn't be back.

He started giving orders of the things he would need
And i helped him out though I must confess
We should've been cautious, had brains enough to heed
The warning to have prevented this mess

I brought him some herbs not knowing what for
I'm sure they somehow served a purpose
I'd made like three trips but after only two more
He stopped and became very focused

No one would believe what all went on from there
How our story could have been much more tragic
But he uttered strange words, waved a stick in the air
And I realized it had to be magic

I couldn't believe how the leg started mending
Could it be i had fallen asleep?
Or maybe I'm the one whose life was near ending
And the coma has induced this dream?

"There's no need to fear, your friend here will soon heal
Even though his wound was actually severe
I assure you the things that you witnessed are real
With the next feat I may disappear."

"I don't think this fool I consider a friend
Though I'm glad still that he will not perish
And it doesn't disturb me that I saw something real
I just wonder how the process was managed"

"I came here to study when my life fell apart
Hoping I could learn from the mages
I wanted a spell to fix my broken heart
My story written here in these pages"

He handed me a book and my youthful heart sank
As i read of true love and love lost
Though the last page, for some reason, left wholly blank
So I read his last words without pause

"This last page is here so to record my journey
In the instance i manage to fail
So read the last written page, no one shall deter me
From the casting my last special spell"

I flipped back one page to a long incantation
That summed up the rest that I'd read
At no point in time did I think that my recitation
Would aid this poor man and it said..

"Moonlight began showing barely filtered by trees
The crisp autumn air swirling in a gentle breeze
The feeling of life made its way to my heart
But stops cold in its tracks since you were forced to depart

The dew on the grass hinting soon there'd be frost
The old sturdy oak and its tree skirt of moss
The stars that all shine and still keep me inspired
Can't lessen my burden of all that's transpired

Healing always takes time and I'm slower than most
Our love didn't die yet I'm still haunted by its ghost
I no longer doubt that all I felt was real
But can it ever be right? Must it all be concealed

I've surrendered my future to the will of the fates
Feeling my path is right. Though I've made some mistakes
I hope to find somewhere that I'll finally feel safe
Even if shackled I'll not try to escape

My breath is now forming into warm misty clouds
My thoughts causing feelings I could probably do without
The moon now embraces me as if to bring comfort
While it lights up the darkness that my loss has uncovered

I never want to bring any pain to another
I want the moon's light to hold me close like a lover
I want to dissolve as we two become one
And forever, light the darkness, giving hope where there's none....

"To hear the words spoken aloud for the first time
I know that I will succeed"
He walked out the door and back into the garden
And once again by moonlight he did read.

He finished his spell as I looked on in awe
And he stayed in the light of the moon
"Once I am gone please forget all you saw
Let my memory go on with me too"

"Sir I can't promise I'll ever forget
all the things I have seen here tonight
But I'll not tell your secrets or the fact that we met
For the trouble that that could invite"

He seemed to be pleased by my well spoken answer
As he entered a circle he'd cast
He then started fading in hues of light amber
And his form took the look of a aghast

He flashed me a smile, soft and sad, yet content
And then he was gone as a whole
His mission here ended and a new one began
I'm was happy he'd achieved his goal

Now suddenly there came through the woods and the dark
The sounds of the people from town
I just stood there staring towards the moon and the stars
While they tried to ask what had gone down

I told of the boy climbing up on the house and his fall and the bump on his head
They'd brought the town doctor to check the boy out
I pointed to the house "go ahead"

The whole group at once all seemed taken aback
By my short, nonchalant type suggestion
The doctor went on while the rest like a pack
Were bombarding me with all sorts of questions

I told most of the story but left out the man
And his magical journey above
He showed me that anything is possible when
It's in service of the one that you love

I know he's still there in the brilliant night sky
Looking out for the love of his life
The moon will embrace him in its place up on high
And her darkness be lit up by his light

© The Moonlight Bard