Prologue: The Silver Spiral
Glowing, luminous in the night,
White as snow, pale as moonlight.
Standing there, head held high,
Swift of foot and dark of eye.
Wells of mystery, can you see
What this mythic beast may be?
Gentle as whispers, soft as the winds,
The one who is there when creation begins.
Shimmer-silk hide, the soft scent of flowers,
And a spiral of silver to enhance nature’s bower.
Four cloven hooves and a star-spun mane,
A creature of magic: “One-Horn” is her name.
***
The Last Battle
My friends fall,
Dying…
The battle rages, all around.
He falls down,
Screaming…
But there’s no stopping the battle now.
The blood falls, soaking into the sands,
And here I am on men’s road.
I stand up,
Shaking…
The stench of death is heavy now.
I find him,
Dying.
I cannot help him; he’s too far gone.
My tears fall, soaking into the sands,
And here I am on men’s road.
I run now,
Screaming…
Asking, “Oh, why am I left behind?
You took him
From me…
Can you remove this hurt from my mind?”
The cold moon holds no answers for me,
And here I am on men’s road.
I wander, Empty…
A gaping wound inside my heart.
I tell my
Story…
To all who’ll listen to my part.
The fires flicker brightly in the night,
And here I am on men’s road.
I’m hungry,
Weary…
But there’s no stopping here around.
The rain falls,
Dreary…
But there’s no shelter I have found.
The rain falls, filling in my footsteps,
And here I am on men’s road.
My eyes fail,
Dimming…
My limbs no longer fleet or strong.
The years have taken
Toll on my body and on my soul,
And still I wander aimlessly,
And here I am on men’s road.
I stand tall
Upon The cliff where I stood so long ago.
I hear him,
Calling…
“Yes, I am coming,” I answer now.
Together we race to the moon,
And here I am on men’s road.
And here I am, on men’s road.
Yes, here I am
On my own road.
Very sad and touching, poignant, evoking both pity and compassion.
Ooooh, such a pretty picture! It’s gorgeous and is well-suited for the poem. Thank you so much!
This is really an extremely evocative fantasy poem, full of realistic emotion and vivid descriptions. I have always had a fascination with unicorns, and I loved being able to pick out the picture for this one! Thanks so much for submitting it, Katana!
A nice version? tribute? to the movie soundtrack song. Were you inspired by the new epilogue Beagle wrote to the Last Unicorn?
You are correct that it was originally inspired by the song from the movie of The Last Unicorn. I haven’t read the book in years, so I’m afraid I can’t say if it connects to the epilogue or not.