Already dark corners were whispering
Of a culling, a reaping, a reckoning
When you left these times to us,
And impending calamity.
A creaking, a groaning, a splintering,
The shared chore of belabored breathing,
As if the air was filled with pitch,
The match yet unlit.
As if this moment froze in waiting, a final gasp before the plunge.
May sorrow starve our souls of stillness, may terror purify our blood.
To the ones who departed this ravaging,
The bowels of their bondage unraveling,
May their bones be laid in peace,
And their memory spared from grief.
Let the buried lie forgotten. Free them from tomorrow's cares.
Invoke them not into these hours. These trials are for living souls to bear.