Bruit
A whisper had been stirring
the Town in its sleep
A voice bruited tidings of
Times bringing change
A great change for the People
Yet foreboding, as if
One could not imagine
What was truly to come
*
These things in the Night
They heard, but never saw
Things that flew overhead
Dipping into shadows
As the shadows they themselves
must have been
Their voices carried
Within & throughout
the entire Land
As one, the penetrating whisper
Singing of the fortunes
Spoken only in Legends
They were the harbingers of mystery
*
The people published what they thought they had heard
Mostly agreeing it sounded absurd
Yet hoping & wishing for it to be true
They went & they prayed in their dusty church pews
*
The God of churches
Merely laughed at their pleas
“’Tis not I who would bestow
such change upon the land
Of mortals, especially,
but most of all man.
You would do yourselves service
to make a new prayer; a prayer
worthy of another god’s ears.
The god who sends whispering messengers
that spread the rumor of imminent change
could be few other that the
Dark God of Chaos & Complexity
To him you must pray.
Go to the mountains or to a dark place
Cast your closed eyes upon the void.
He will hear you then,
for He listens within the shadows of
Stillness.
The Stillness provides a background
for all He creates
And Order acts as scattered tools,
strewn across his project to be
Chosen at random, an aid to his craft.
*
I am not the God you seek.
I care not for transformation or change.
I do not think to provide revolutions
for the masses or evolution to
matters of thought.
You all pray to me in the churches
& that is why I live.
I survive on the fervent worship
of my followers; I hear your
needs & desires, and am nourished by them.
You offer your prayers in exchange
for aid, but never have I helped you.
I am the God of churches,
and I exist to be exalted.
Go now and seek the God who waits.”
*
The people had heard
Only bits of what had been pronounced
by the lord whom they worshiped,
for the truth was deafening & quieted in their minds.
They did, however hear what they must do.
*
So, they dispersed
In groups, pairs, and singles,
Walking slowly towards whose places
often sought for solitude.
The mountain that loomed over
the town was one place,
While some chose the graveyard
outside their pew-filled sanctuary.
Others retreated unto their own homes
To sit in their own darkness,
undisturbed by the world.
*
When all the townsfolk were settled
in their respective places
The shadowy messengers
recommenced their song;
*
“Oh we, oh we, dark messengers be;
We travel the world spreading mystery!
Never before could you all have seen
what you will behold waking from this dream.”
*
And on and on they carried
their wistful notes & misty verses
upon the clouds in the twilight
as the people settled into
their positions for prayer.
*
One thing they remembered,
That silence was key
so they turned off their voices
& listened.
*
The singing faded
until not a sound could be heard
all over the town’s surrounding landscape
Lay a shroud of stillness
A tremor, a trembling
without & within
The roots & the branches,
the rocks & the leaves,
the flooring beneath the penitents’ knees
He was here or he was arriving
they could not be sure
but his presence grew closer
until it settled in their bones
*
Silence
*
The world held its breath,
at least the world inside the town,
for in this moment, the town was all
that existed - one inside it
would have been unable to think of any other place to be.
*
Stillness
*
And then...
*
A voice like thunder
Never received by human ear before
(at least not in this town,
or by any who were yet alive)
Reverberated through, punctured,
and saturated
the existence of all who were listening
*
The darkness itself the Voice
seemed to be
Profound & encompassing enough
to appear as a time of day
or a natural state of atmosphere
It could have been mist, or color,
or the molecules that comprise
those slightly-tangible essences
*
And it spoke
not only to the people,
but also to the land & to existence:
*
“You call upon me in your silence
and your waiting
for you have received the proclamations
I sent with my heralds of the night.
You wish to witness the birthing of
that which I have foretold in whispers.
You wish to live in the new realm
I am introducing;
You wish to undergo the great change
I present to you,
Yet, you do not understand
You want that which has not fully been
revealed &
You are not prepared
Only in this night have you begun to consider
my existence
After it was mentioned by your
common church god.
A good fellow he is, giving credit
where it is due, if only this once.
But, it has been to him whom you
have cast your petitions all these years.
In vain, I must say,
While I have waited.
Stirring, creating, changing the world
before your very eyes.
Only to be forgotten,
Save only for the witches,
with whom I remain in lasting communion.
I do not rely on the praises of mortals
to find purpose in my work
I am thankful to those kind witches, though,
who have provided & maintained
comforting voids in which
I find solace for creation & rest.
I fault you not for your ignorance
regarding my place in the world
for I am rarely found, unless
being looked for.
The God you know sits in the light,
Seeking comfort within warm congregation.
To him it is natural you would have gravitated,
for most things are made plain when
Viewed in the light.
I am referred to
as a Dark God,
for I
create all the mysteries &
the unknowns
in the universe.
I bring darkness & in it hope
for a new dawn to emerge.
I create change & disruption
To break people free from their chains
of ritual & tradition.
I provide new paths
Never tread upon before
To be explored by those
Who seek that which they do not know
And within that, enlightenment.
These things are those of which my couriers
breathed into the air,
those mutterings in the air that
led to your supplication & your listening.
This is what I provide to the world
Often unnoticed by mortals
While continuously changing their lives.
You want this,
you all do & you always have,
That firm place that sits between
comfort & pain -
I employ it where it fits to spur your
rigorous behavior & action
You all, set in your sleepy, fixed ways,
jumping at the first shadowy murmur
I sent your way.
You ache for the change, the revolution,
Yet you build your habits & your rituals,
your well-lit churches in which to
house your selfish god.
You avoid the darkness & the quiet
& tread not on the unknown paths
where only the witches will go
Bound & secured by your fears,
the lot of you are, like children
clutching their blankets
against imaginary monsters
And for this I cannot fault you.
Perhaps I can bestow a thought
of comfort to your now-troubled minds:
A bit of me lives forever inside each of you.
You can see me in the pupil of your eye,
You can feel me when your mind is perplexed,
You can recognize me in the mysteries
that comprise your body - the intricacies
of your nervous system, your brain functions,
your memories.
You can hear me in the screams of your
nightmares as you face your greatest threats
I am with you always
I am what keeps life interesting.
So, yes, I have heard your silence & your listening
I thank you for the sacrifice of words & understanding
I am honored by your raw ignorance
& your willingness to commune with me.
If you truly want the changes I bring,
then shroud yourselves with the
dark cloak of courage -
it is fueled by your fear
allowing you to be strengthened
& no longer defeated by that which is unknown.”
*
The earth was quiet
& the night rolled over the landscape
The Dark God of Chaos & Complexity
had finished his speech
and seemed to have faded
back into the tremors of the dark
Or was that him all along
in the darkness & and night
that implacable chill that sets the weary
on edge & sends shivers down spines.
*
The townspeople arose from their rigid postures & headed towards their beds, sedated & slightly curious as to what had just taken place. Surely, if it had been anything, they would be reading about it in the morning paper, so no use trying to sort it all out in the middle of the night. Yes, a hot cup of tea & a good night’s sleep should set all aright by sunrise.
*
A lullaby whispered in the trees,
full of words never uttered by human mouths
It cradled & rocked the town into a dream.
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