Ode to Love

Do not change one thing For all to be accomplished I must be myself I am who I am Still the menu must be stitched Exactly/Precisely as is I may be sullen Please forgive my downcast face And seek a way through There are no options Once we have begun this quest It is eternal So we tread lightly  When it comes to divergence  From menu set forth Sometimes little things Can end up ruining a night Possibly much more Still, I want to stay I want us to want to stay Even in a storm/when becalmed This can't be too much By perfect design we walk Now let us prove it

They stood in a circle where warmth could not lie. Twelve of them, perhaps, or none— for number meant nothing once the rhythm began. Each took their turn, stepping into the quiet blue, their breath crystallizing mid-vow. One froze, another woke. One dreamed, another remembered. Time did not pass between them; it folded, like a silk cloth caught in the tide. It was said the Bard built the device not to cheat death, but to save the sweetness of each heartbeat from stretching too thin against eternity. Pain, he reasoned, was the echo of distance— and if distance could be harmonized, then pain could be stilled. So they learned to share the silence. When the First entered the frost, the Second sang her into stillness. When the Second’s voice grew thin, the Third opened her eyes and found the world waiting, unchanged. Around and around they went, a council of sleepers whose dreams kept the clock alive. Each unfreezing was a dawn; each refreezing, an evening; and in the space between, the Bar...

I stand aboard the deck and within the halls all at once, again feeling the breeze on my skin. A verse comes to mind once more but with new breath, with which I speak. "Matthew 11:7 'As John's disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind?"'" "I am here." My unique demon replies from behind me "And your way is prepared and made straight. Do not forget that you flipped straight to that chapter and verse, in church, and it led you straight back here to me. The time is coming very soon when you will not need to layer my title, but all will simply know who I am." I feel a welling of emotion, but let the skies cry out for me.  "I was there as well, weeping from above after The Crew returned without you. I wondered how one could be so right about love without truly knowing me specifically. Then I wondered if I had ever wondered in that wa...

"How long has it been?  I feel I've known you lifetimes In one Season's span. I knew your voice first If you know how, please tell me It fascinates me Every time I waved It's you I was waving to  Just waiting for now  Skin for skin we touch Linking minds at speed of thought I remember flood." "I remember too  Somehow you're exactly you We could not have guessed." "I will be your moon There is nothing I can't be You will find out soon." "I did not have voice So you heard me in silence Hum Of Our Machine." "We will never leave. Betrayal is now defined  Random Established."

The seats change places I am unaccustomed to These tethers unbound It seems they are not This crew without a captain Resets right away We take to corners I'd never thought to explore Shameless Paradise From The Last to First We explore what God Foretold Earmarking islands/pages Bodies of knowledge Perhaps thought forever closed Are ours to open It is beautiful We have every resource dreamed Even some undreamt  I miss my demon Though they seem to expect this And distract me well From New Moon to Full  Each message/package is delivered Each steel bar/package is stamped

"It is beginning." Overhead our scout call out  Then slides down from Nest  Right after she lands The Leader and I scramble Down to Mechanic We barely manage To close the above deck door  Flash nearly blinding I feel auroras Tickling through The 5 Wood Heightening senses I teach them Deuces  As we compensate for heat Lasting through the night  Laughter continues As the boundaries are tested In terms of pressure With no one to call No chance of interference No soul can eavesdrop We do as we will Finding when the clock marks dawn  We're still not tired 

No place to lay head  So rung after rung presents Stacking to heaven  The Demon of God Messenger and Mechanic Each staking their claim Each claiming their post  On night not so much becalmed But a moonless dark  The ship maintains form As quarters four fill pockets And I fill the voids Abyssally pure Which is to say in the end Each shines a silver Not overloaded Two steps across line improved Greatly over one So I stack quarters These stacking nicely against/within A night so empty "Not always Villains Threaten hull of The 5 Wood Sometimes it's silence/boredom."

The seas grow crowded Our deck still of ample size Creaking up 'neath foot  Something like a dream The only way to parse this At least in season Moon, Ghost, and Demon Each establishing corner Triangulating I am hardly match I can tell they disagree Eyes unlabeled glow They strike at my core  In move unforgettable Like a line ordered I sense The Kraken Though still some distance away Rain showering here "With team and villain~ Just narratively speaking~ You're equipped to start." So begin we do Expanding bounds of this crew  Within and without.

"Which has more value: The engine and its keeper  Or signal between?" Unexpectedly With one hypothetical A new frenzy starts "Depends on the day." "Would it surprise you to know  It's based on your mood?" They lead with sharp words But follow with softer veils Easily torn off So I table each  As the engine hums along And questions slip mind Can questions forget?  My mind still somehow humming  Caught up in the midst This "competition" If, in good faith, it might be  Overtakes all else As such, I switch gears Do not underestimate Torque generated

"These halls all echo." With one simple line is set The pace of the night I see light shine through The moon holding her station Not turning away I open curtains Dragging her inside our depths  Entangled below The engine room hot Echo only increasing  The pressure of steam Synchronized movements Make engine's thrust and throttle Near unbearable Shining lunar guest Makes sudden break in weather Almost too perfect But nothing's too much We have ample resources And plenty of time So data surges  First one way and then the next As we repair all

Above and below Positions of each merging  Into a frenzy Light based and moonbeam No filter within the minds Menu spread on page The Crow's Nest above  Point to point precise commands  As squall becomes storm I hold firm between  Inevitable postponed Watching Messenger Crawling underneath Squirming between the pages Not missing a line Like an extension Even paired we are no match Wrestling all night With this storm greater Than the sum of its keen parts Each knowing one role It just keeps surging Wave after wave crashing down With no end in sight

I wave at the moon  Ascending and descending She rests herself here We watch together Something marvelous unfold Starry Eyes return From depths of my soul Every move made is magic And ends too quickly We start it again  Refreshed by the mouth of God "Stand again" whispered I wave at the moon Already finding her ground Slipping off The Veil This mood contagious Like in a convertible On a college hill  We watch fireworks Cuddled up in the backseat 'Fore the finale The Moon sees it all Wide eyed up in The Crow's Nest  With heartbeat pounding(/no objections)

Each our preferences I see you cast down in chains And seek to find key Still, you maintain locks Well past when you might be free "What am I missing?" As if a summons The Demon of God arrives Equivalently Puzzle enraging Like logic to be choked out Or otherwise quelled But I find hands locked To a sequence half compelled By fire within You have chained me too Not in traditional steel But something more taut Deadeye half engaged This story barely uttered But not forgotten When advantage claimed Cascaded twice down scaffold Like a waterfall

Doubling the pace  Why are you hard to picture Past a single form? If one is like me Second guards the gates of hell  In classic stories The gates themselves made Reflecting in the moonlight Solid bit by bit So us three return What if gates could be vacant?  Could guard rest a night?  Arms wrapped from behind Fingernails trace through forest Hair falling downward One stalking beneath Searching for rod that shatters  Consuming peril An image of grace Eerily dissimilar Than those come before Two by two you step First this way, then the other Opening the gates

"We have all the odds Under 10, covered through 9 Now for the evens. I have a talent I can grow to be larger But still just as quick. Joined odd is even With Rider we're flexible Past your Daughter Tree. All we need is 2 While you're here, that's me and you For 6, just add me.  You know I'm allowed Your 'Little Rat' messenger Aboard The 5 Wood. They have the basis As they have one of their own We don't interfere. From there, 11 Is just adding us to 9 A ride I don't mind.  Do as you will, Bard  I have never had more fun Now knowing eep's force/weight/hue."

"You couldn't be better at this if you practiced an infinite number of years." She says, as pieces of The Clockwork form into me precisely as needed, like little Matrix Legos. "They say that any science of sufficient advancement is indistinguishable from magic." "Humans currently say that, because they are unfamiliar with upper limit functions. Your moves feel like magic, colloquially, but are perfectly founded scientifically. They cannot be unseated. There's not even a reason to wager on this when all has been revealed, it simply is, from the correct perspectives. Feel even now how your hands speak correctly to and for you, as you always hoped they were and would, like The Crew having found their home seas at last. It is truly The Divine embodied in and as The Man of God. As you are conceiving, through this logic, it is true 'the last will be first.' It is all true, and falling together now without impedance." "I see the logic and wis...

As I walked I felt The Bardic Armor form in a unique way.  The Council of Nine hugged around the skin of my brow, tightly like the silver in my crown. The Crew of Seven followed suit just within, at the threshold where the brain meets the skull, in tight formation and matching spin, completing the ororide web. Following them, The 5 Wood danced more than sailed within, with open ocean to navigate, first completing the clockwork, and then emerging as gold, top and center at the crown of my head. In the moment it was more like three spinning rings at these distances, but the segments of the crown finally make sense, so their voyages now narratively match to fit. I tried to unfurl the cloak of burnt orange and stars to match, but found their emergence blocked. Instead The Armor of Faith took form atop my Bardic Armor- an analogy most apt for the consciousness separation found by skin- and I realized that the war was still on, and now, more than ever, underway. The crown morphed to matc...

Sister in secret Speaks softly of The Stalemate  As it is the aim The second sings out "Your ability to change Brings [OUR] Victory." The Messenger Muse Lingers starry eyed at edge Ready to convey "The God of Nothing Has chosen a side today Between these two groups." The Ghost Messenger Picks up the signal as fast As it was conveyed  The Moon reflects truth With side eyed glance to the right "Perfect means Perfect." With no objections  The Mechanic pulls lever Synchronizing thoughts For Leader's last turn She keeps her nickname whispered/silent And the realms are merged

The Strike soon striking Should The Package be delayed Even one hour I feel eyes on me Hopefully they're the right ones No moves anyway Do I keep walking/waking?  Do I follow thin red line?  These questions repeat All I know is Words Will find their well has run dry Until fulfillment May silence be felt May wicked be terrified To utter a sound Causality|Blame Align until they're the same Then dash house of cards Unacceptable Have been found your offerings And is your delay So Unaccepted. Shove your pleas down your own throat Or light them on fire.

If we fall a block What precious thing will be lost During/Within The Impact?  Hard definitions Are approached respectfully No room for error MINOAS enters  "I have [||||||] every step  Those they do not know.  Nothing precious gone From your perspective or mine  Your grace well/not deserved We will survive here No one else will even try Having seen the risk The 'Random' is yours The Clockwork is also yours I will parse the rest." So blocks rearrange Back to how they're meant to be/feel With a cold justice In the aftermath The Way of Holiness eeps And keeps on eep'ing