Emerald

Emerald
By Amy Moloney

Crawling inside the forbidden, cups hold the hidden,

where secret knowledge dwells

Drinking from the pool, that hides from the fool,

the ancient doorway to your own hell

Somewhere croaks the raven, do not enter this haven,

follow you beyond the stone

Gathered beside the shade, the open evening glade,

Emerald sits upon his throne

He whispers to reap, crafty words from the deep,

they wrap themselves inside

Holding an ostentatious blade, you swipe them away,

afraid they’ll make you rise up with the tide

Never listening the grey, so this mage has to say,

banish your ego and your pride

Emerald walks turns himself away, denying your your claim,

casts a silent spell upon the night

The waters of hell, around you they swell,

sweep you up into a raging fire

The ways of the damned, have called you a man,

a thief, assassin, and a liar

Holding your blade, praying to names,

that rule your two-pronged tongue

Emerald appears enraged, you blaspheme his name,

like zealots blotting out the sun

You seek an unknown prize, with deceitful hungry eyes,

but refuse to play the seller’s game

Inside his hollowed lair, insulting the perfumed air,

again he denied this quest of empty fame

A knight of the other gods, whose fear you have wrought,

of a simple Emerald glow

Dwelling beneath the earth, holding no curse,

you vilify his shadowed place below

Now you become his, weeping into clenched fists,

a broken crusader of minds so old

Emerald frees your breath, saves you from death,

but still to lies you stubbornly hold

If a prize you do seek, look past the raven’s beak,

and knowledge will be yours

Just open your mind, leave old gods behind,

and kneel down at the shore

The green one awaits, holding open hidden gates,

take a sacred scroll from the pile

Drink from the cup, let it warm the body up,

and sit with Emerald a good long while

Emerald is not blind, his thoughts change your mind,

an enlightened one shares the bodhi seed

Sift through the sand, grasp it in your hand,

and allow the wisdom to feed

Again fear grips your throat, like a sinking boat,

you tumble through the waves

Somewhere you see, old archetypes make-believe,

a man himself he must save

Emerald is pleased, the green man on his knees,

to you he bows respect

It takes more than fear, to render man clear,

when he is his own shipwreck

You came here with pride, to slay what’s inside,

misguided prophecy upon your lips

You leave here with hope, new ways to cope,

your armor becomes your ship

Rising from deep, the knowledge you keep,

the raven will guide you across

Emerald you say, why show me this way,

our paths should never have crossed

He winks himself away, not before he said,

My son, we are one in the same

You called me him, then call it something grim,

but really it’s not what’s in the name

The wisdom is you, finding the truth,

on a quest to make pure the kingdom of what?

But this world is pure, it has been before,

and will always be what it must

The knight rides home, now never alone,

the emerald stone set into his ring

A new song begun, the honey bees hum,

and the kingdom of Emerald will sing