Broken Emeralds

 These fine necklaces of gold
Entwined her figure like gentle ropes,
The mob said that this enchanted jewellery
Held in the grace of a lost time
And kept out the immorality of a false light.
The twilight dusk opens the canopy 
Of my emerald leaves,
Dipped in jade and preserved forever with the 
Breath of a dragonspeaker.
It was only a shadow, only a rogue,
My transparent Queen!
Yet is this shadow so separated from the twilight,
My beautiful, emerald twilight?

Did the wise trees ever fall more silent
As the day she walked his shadowed way?
He led her and she led the mob,
A self-proclaimed queen leading clamouring mass
Of clichés, no smile of pride on ashtoken lips
For her eyes deceived thee - and yes, I!
So I pour my heart to the lost stars,
Are her Hindi lullabies as original,
As the waves upon the grey rocks,
Grey like the storms of Transylvania
And silvered with an empty hope?

I can imagine Tinuviel's sacrifice in this miruvoir,
And is it only my humanity, or the old flasks
Holding this fine Elven flow that have snatched away
All the beauty, all the morning fantasy and dance?
For I have no more dreams, no more visions,
Of walking a pure and empty seaside with you,
Blessed by the example of her,
Our queen walking alone with her true shadow-love,
Speaking of love, of murder. Is that love immoral,
Or that hate pure? 

For thus, when the false shadows depart 
And all that is within is turned out,
Free for the dark elf to chant a tune of lust and loss,
We shall see that hate breaks the heart - 
But, oh! so doth love.
And this hate, the tired woodpecker moans,
Impassions a bleak fire again to accompany the final,
Last note of this obsidian elven singer.

And yet is this song finished?
For wherewithal the moonwater slides into
A pure fall of opal,
I see the reflection of a dying song rebreathed,
Strength and honour given to the weak voice
Of the mercenary with no heart, no tongue or voice or time
To tell his weakness to the world. 
You, my mercenary, my lover, my bane,
Only looked to a queen who led you astray.
But is it you who are weak, dependant on a death,
Or I, who cannot find the song you are beginning to sing
When it was before me for seven years already?

So then teach me the beautiful song,
To cleanse the past from the shadowdancers - 
Because I remember too many pieces
Of tarnished silver that looked like lost stars.
And as your pathway down dark elven roads has opened 
So many vials of black butterflies and forgotten histories,
So too I see that this beautiful queen was only a usurper,
For those eyes I once thought touched by the moon,
Are only reflections of dying embers,
And the Elven leaves about her hair are only, only,
Only silk and glass! - 
Only broken emeralds, dead and thrown away
To the trail of this dark elf's fading note.

Author's Note

Rather an old poem. I can be extravagant in my imagery; is it excessive?

Reviews

[Wolf_Moon]

I recall reading this a while back on the Window.

It is still as lovely as it was then.

As for for the description, in a couple places, it becomes a little hard to understand, but perhaps breaking up the paragraphs would help. It would give the reader a bit of space to think about this wonderful poem a bit more.

[Jhaniel]

Nooooo, it's not excessive, it's beautifully handled in this poem, I love it all.
. . . But you already know that ;)


Because I remember too many pieces
Of tarnished silver that looked like lost stars.
And as your pathway down dark elven roads has opened
So many vials of black butterflies and forgotten histories,
So too I see that this beautiful queen was only a usurper,
For those eyes I once thought touched by the moon,
Are only reflections of dying embers,
And the Elven leaves about her hair are only, only,
Only silk and glass! -
Only broken emeralds, dead and thrown away
To the trail of this dark elf's fading note.

I believe I quoted this years ago. I quote it again. It's still lovely.

[Kelley]

Loved the line......

"Did the wise trees ever fall more silent
As the day she walked his shadowed way?"

This was a great poem and I would love to read some more of your work
Thanks for sharing.

Kelley