O, the biting pulse of my memories Gnawing the roots of my pain O, the icy tendrils of the past Striking my heart with a cold, whipping chill O, the mountains' moan, The cackling of the crows Singing the forest's refrain Winds whistling through My deep and wooded home But I am deaf to the sound The sound which has no name An Ode to the Feral Heart The wild one who roams Without shame or guilt or fear God and Man at once The king without a throne His spirit strikes you with wonder His words are thick with truth Like heavy drops of amber That cloak the oaken bark He is the one who came before In whom all powers lie Flowing from his fingertips Those warm and gentle streams The current running ceaselessly Through trees forever dark And when you see him standing tall He speaks her words into your heart: "I know the place Where memory sleeps And secrets hide It is not far Or hard to find Or too ancient to recall" Heaving my chest Gripping my throat Sleepless, senseless I cannot speak But the tears stream Warm, and heavy With the weight of What I must do O, my Brother, what have you done? What have you and I become? Can you count the links, one by one? Of the chain that you've begun Chains of hate for each man you've wronged Chains that hold forever strong They will follow you where you go As their weight forever grows Open the gates, O forest keeper To lost and ancient gardens To higher climes where few might stand To souls distant and dreaming In deep and wooded forests of my youth The sound of hunger rises The sound of a glinting blade The sound which has no name Reveal thy shape, O formless one Of aching, empty pain Of gods bereft of grace Of strength, and the lust for power Walk with me, O winged mother Through caverns old and yawning Through chains that drag us downward Toward truth and reconciliation