Alt Clud

                             Alt Clud

A darkness darker than the darkest dark

Forbids it to us.  We know nothing more

Than guesses at its language and its stark

Rapine and slaughter.  Battles, battles, war,

And tiny strips of peace are all that we

Can stab at in the murk of trumped up facts.

Did queens wear crowns with gilded filigree?

We’re forced to predicate the battle axe

And even ornate shields.  As for dance

And poetry, romanticism fakes

Them up.   The mind’s eye fails to forge the lance

An Alt Clud warrior, yelling loudly, shakes.

..Some sort of fire in blackest fortress keep

….We conjure but the shadows lour too deep.

Phillip Whidden