The Telling of Dannan
Hear now if ye will the telling of Dannan,
remembered not by mind of man
or ancient script or record in the stars,
nurtured not by temple ruin or holy men
or sacred place
with enigmatic faces carved in stone.
Remembered be Tuatha de Dannan
by ancient hill alone,
deep in slumber in the lap of time
as time itself swirls slowly by
in streams that run and ebb and flow
through dreams of children not yet born.
To this day they live, these wise ones of Dannan,
by grassy mound inside of which
the Stone of Kings and other things
of great antiquity are found.
Sacred sword that cuts the soul
and hallowed gourd that once the Blood of Man did hold.
They came to Eire from the sky, the ancient De Dannan,
their names the names within the stone,
the stone itself, some say, the stone where Jacob lay
and dreamt his dream of wrestling gods and angels beaming light.
They came to Eire from the sky and here their children grew
and traveled far and shared the wondrous things they knew.
Among the maidens of Dannan was born to Eth and Luthian
the fairest one whose beauty and whose charm
like shining light of angel face this world and Heaven did embrace:
Idres of the trav'ling race Tuatha de Dannan,
who in their wondrous wagons went
throughout the land to bring the truth of gods to men.
With crystal orb and magic spell these seers of Dannan
their tales did tell to those who dwelt the Isles
since days of yore
when war was planted in their minds
and mind reduced to little more than garish pit of savag'ry.
Uprooted lay the Tree of Sanity.
Once from the sky did Adman fly to see the wonders of Dannan:
Those ancient hills, the grassy mounds inside of which
the Stone of Kings and other things of pure antiquity were found.
By light of dawn the fields he strolled
and lo! he saw
the beauty that to Eth and Luthian was born.
And so the tale of Adman-Ra and Idres of Dannan:
He a god from high above and she the daughter of a man.
Adman rode the sun and ruled the night by light of moon
while Idres in her secret room did wait for pain of birth
and flood of life as life's blood flowed.
In dark exchange her life she gave for life to god-child she did owe.
On greenest isle on misty day was born fair Eva de Dannan,
her father Adman in the sky,
her mother's spirit in the sun.
Among the creatures of the wild
to womanhood she grew.
She knew the lore of all the land as Wicca women do.
For womanhood to her did come, this waifish daughter of Dannan.
And on her Day, her sixteenth Day,
did speak her father from above;
The sun, they say, did ne'er shine and neither moon nor star.
From far a voice like thunder rolled and filled the world
with mighty roar as spake the godly Adman-Ra:
'Oh, daughter of the gods and Thuatha de Dannan,
thou liv'st among the animals as not a goddess nor as man!
The lore of all the land ye know but hence to know the truth:
The choice be thine to live as man or god divine
but mark these words forsooth as man
undying youth and cleverness be thine.
'And hark ye well, dear Eva of Dannan,
yea, heed the voice of truth: Thy wisdom as a goddess
likens prudence craved by man
to awkwardness of youth.'
Thus thundered Adman-Ra to Eva on the moor.
Her intellect was human, her judgment also poor.
She looked up boldly to the sky, the Wiccan of Dannan,
and spake the anger in her heart:
'Old man Adman-Ra for whom my mother had to die,
thou speakst to me of choice while without choice does Idres lie
beneath this sky where no light shines upon the earth.
Hark ye well these words of mine for words they are of oath!'
So spake Eva de Dannan as all the worlds did wait.
Words of fury were her words which soon would seal her fate:
'It was Idres of the Isles you craved, her daughter you did sire,
in wind and rain does lie her grave, her tombstone be desire!
Aye hark ye well these words for words they are of oath '
yea on this day I swear to thee that I shall have them both!'
The wrath of Adman-Ra did earn young Eva of Dannan;
she spake the anger of her youth, the cunning of her clan.
The world they say did shake that day and hills and tombstones fell.
The fury in the skies above was worse than tales can tell.
'Thy words be words of ignorance and arrogance and greed!
Thy place be neither earth nor sky but depth of hell indeed!'
Upon her Day, her sixteenth Day, was cast bold Eva de Dannan
into the void where lived no god nor ever dwelt a man.
In darkness did the ages pass as time swirled slowly by
in streams that ebbed and flowed and twirled
through dreams of children of another world.
And all the while she mourned her Eire that from emptiness was born.
Thus she lived within the void, this daughter of Adman;
her father was a deity, her mother De Dannan.
Until she saw within the void the Universal Womb '
she recognised with clarity Mother Nature's loom.
For what was Eire or the sky without the void below?
The cradle its existence to the silent tomb did owe.
In deepest dark of blackest night,
from weakest spark burns brightest light:
In Eden which the void became lives Eva to this very day,
her children worlds and stars where mankind's children play.
Her face a thing of beauty yet as down she kneels to pray ' for
the people of the greenest hills she never did forsake.
Ends.
This poem runs through the short story 'Adam Falls: A Perfectly Preposterous Parody'. Just let me know if you'd like to see it in that context!
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