“You are mighty, Death,” they cried, “and your powers are great. But you are not the end-you are only the beginning.”

Where are you now
Father of our fathers?
In our darkest hour
Our time of need.
We want you anyhow
Your sons and daughters
We scream and howl
Our loss-we bleed.

My love is gone, he is carried off to war
To return, to return nevermore
All you widows, I’ll be joining your clan
My lover’s body lies on faraway sand.

I am asleep, but not dreaming
Cursed in my oblivion
The job is done, the job is done.
Celebrate death in the streets
Celebrate the taste of another’s defeats
Falling into a time where no love is lost
A time when there is a call for blood
We will learn the cost of our pride
Swept up in the flood
After all hope has died.

I cry out to you from the depths
Of despair and wasted love
And death.
Why did you let me live?
Why did you give me breath
In a world so full of hate?
I have nothing left to give
Everything has been stripped away
You would help now-but you are too late.

The scene set
And what was I supposed to think?
It was unbelievable
And I was overtaken by shock
And still am.
Getting up at the ring of an alarm clock
Nothing is the same
Why should I give a damn?
If everything is over
I am inclined to believe
That there is nothing to do but grieve.

If the world would end today
Then I would tell them, I would speak
To the ones I love
To the ones who cannot love me
(I’d find a way)
I would speak of my love
Speaker of the matters of my heart and weep
And gently surrender to the darkest sleep.

May the souls of those
Beloved here and mourned
Smile down on us from above.
For everyone knows
That the greatest link
Is love.

After the time comes and licks at our soul
We’ll still be complete, we’ll still be whole
There is still a place to put faith
Keep up your heart.
There is more to be said for the human race
The world is still beautiful.

“Come with me,” she said
On the last evening of the world.
The night cool with blinding light
Outshining the moon
But never outshining the girl.
We walked on the desert sands
We climbed the highest mountains
Bathed in the water of purity
We both could understand
The destruction as some force
Beyond us, nothing we could do.
She kissed my hand and said,
“I know this much is true.”
It comforted my mind
She brought me peace
On the last day of existence.
A serenity that does not cease
Through eternity and echoes through the universe.
Time may have gotten worse
But she and her love have not
More distant than the unknown
And closer than a thought.

We are angels on the edge of the earth
Watching with sad eyes
Waiting with hope
Finding a new birth
And a way to cope.
You beautiful, confused people
You sad days underneath your sun.
What will be left when all is done?
Love moves-and in its being proves
Itself greater than anything one could do.
But in all the pain and confusion
My thoughts are not with me, but with you.

And so at the end of Time, Death ceased, for there was no need for him any longer. That was the beginning, and there was no end.

Back to "In the Wake of the Fire" Index