The Voice / Afterlife cycle

This is what I do. This is my life - before, in between and after. They come, they whisper, they share lives. I write it down.

Among the dead I walk.
I know no paths among the living.
To the dead I give voice.
The living have my silence.
Among the dead I dwell.
I know no sanctuary among the living.
To the dead I listen.
No living soul has my ear.

Deep, deep into the ground I descend.
There, no light can trouble me.
To the deepest places I go –
The shallowness above never troubles me.
Into the darkness I venture,
To the ancestors I flee:
There, no evil can find me.
There, I am at peace.

Among the dead I walk.
Bones, stories and lies.
Among the dead I abide,
Memories and vows.
Among the dead I bloom,
Nettles and vines.
Among the dead I sing,
As I am long gone.

Gone as they once were,
Gone as they are,
Gone as they will be.
Alive for those above,
Alive for those who listen,
Alive for those who care.
Cold as the hottest flame,
Blazing as the coldest ice.

My fire laid out for the cold,
My candles burn for the blind ones,
My lanterns glow for the lost,
My lights gleam for the broken.
I am the Voice of the perished,
I am the Voice of the gone,
I am the Voice of the silence
I am the Voice of the dead.

****

I move through the mist
As if through the veil
Of gossamer silk.

It swirls around me
In greyish silver
And diamond white.

I hear the songs
From long ago
That are no more.

Feather-light fingers
Touch my hands
Invisibly, softly.

I close my eyes
And surrender
To vanish.

The voices beckon
In tongues of old
In words unheard before.

The air fills with scent
Of memories
That are no more.

I move through the mist
Weightless
A feather on the wind.

My hands become light
And free
From their shackles.

There, beyond the mist
Freedom lies
Unconquered, wild.

There, beyond the mist
All prayers
Are answered.

There, beyond the mist
The great Ash grows
Immortal, proud.

Silver-leaf, all aglow
Calls me
Through the mist.

Many a name it has,
But the voices
Call it Yggdrasil.

Cover me, Mighty one
Let me find refuge
In your roots.

Bless me, Mighty one
Let me find strength
In your branches.

Heal me, Mighty one
Let me become whole
In your leaves.

Lull me to sleep,
Mighty one,
For I am weary.

Carry me over
The troubled waters.

****

When you descend, you’re down below.
Your paths keep winding and spiralling
Your way lies through the mist, moss and bones
To the Center of the Labyrinth.

When you descend, you’re going strong
Till the ground break open and crack
Like a ripe fruit, full of blood red,
A pomegranate of thousand seeds.

When you descend, the turf turns to moss ,
Only to change to stones,
That remind you of bones
Buried down below, too deep to see.

When you descend, there’s a sudden hush
And a million voices break free
From the ground, from the deep
From the ancient times.

When you descend, you’re no longer there
Up above, but down where the sun is dark,
And the bones, and the stones
Call out your name.

When you descend, you become the Voice
As the flesh succumbs to the call of Death
As the body falls to become the moss
That shall grow and cover the bones and stones.

When you descend, you belong to him,
Lord of Underground, king of midnight stars,
Lord of earth and ash,
Lord of bygone days.

When you descend, you are his alone,
His Persephone, his dark song, his own,
And you’re glad to be, as you feel him call
In the darkest night, in the brightest day.

****

You never know what you’re gonna see
Venturing to the Otherworld.
You never know who you’re gonna meet
Venturing down, down, down.

You never know what you’re gonna find
Venturing to the Underworld
You never know what you’re gonna hear
Venturing through the veil.

You never know what you’re gonna do
Trying to get out of the Otherworld
You never know what you’re gonna get
Coming back from the dead.

You never know what you’re gonna leave
Venturing to the Otherworld
You never know what is gonna stay
While you’re all down below.

You never know what you’re gonna be
Six feet under in Netherworld,
You never know who you’re gonna see
If you climb back at all.

You never know and you never will
If you’re smart enough
Never to venture underground
Never go down below.