The Black Idol

This pilgrimage we undertook to wastelands where an Empire stood,
Where feathered evil watches from on high;
Where desolation stretches on all sides in ruinous divides,
And all around the bitter wind doth sigh.
Proud epitaphs did once declare: «Look you upon me and despair»
Yet tides of time have washed away all trappings of dominion.
But when unto the East we turned our eyes and saw a shape arise
It’s fearsome outline black against the heavens.
And so upon the winding road we trod our way toward the shape
That towered above the skyline: a black and fearful silhouette.
«I saw the fathers of this land arise
To climb and reach the sky;
Ambition burning in their hearts
Great heights above the plain did fly.
They raised their spires and towers tall:
A kingdom bright beneath the sun
And in my name they conquered all.
Hail, tyranny and dominion.»
«But yet this kingdom soon forgot
The legacy of He Who Watched
And in a mere handful of dust
I bought them fear: a freezing ire;
The winter’s pale embittered heart
That beats a solitary drum.
With darkling skies put out their sun
Forever, and without farewell.
Their wonderland in silence fell."
Memorial to long-dead days, of endless tears, uncounted years:
A legacy of broken flesh, and an Empire built on blood and sweat.
But yet when drawing two days closer 'cross the half-lit frozen plain;
And standing in the shadow of the black colossus, cruel and grim.
Each heard a ghostly voice that whispered in our ears and so did seem
To tell a dismal history, a chronicle of mordant dream:
«Small gods in your created heavens,
Bewail thy crumbling paradise
Forever, and without farewell.
Their wonderland in silence fell
I am the great devourer when darkness doth descend
I am the destroyer — I am the hungry end.
Gripped in fearful outline, a shape that none defy
Your Aeons pass uncounted as I sit and watch the sky.»