THE WILD HUNT
For Talis

He climbed the sacred hill, the breath rasping in his throat
He ran as though hounds chased him, teeth catching on his coat
He howled aloud to Heaven, or was he calling Hell
As the wind alive with sound and scent smote him so he fell
Remembering the promise in words the ancients wrote
He raised his face to listen for a distant horns bright note

We are the Lords of Annwn, the riders on the storm
Orion, Herne, Diana, we take on many forms
We ride the winds from Hades, through lightning and hurricane
Where there's nothing separating the slayer from the slain
Some are cursed and others blessed and few are human born
We're the hunter and the hunted and we all follow the horn

I want to join the hunt he cried, his voice almost a scream
I want to feel the fever, I want to live the dream
To breathe the smells of man and beast that stir like woman's kiss
Not even that can move the soul, wake passion such as this
The chance of sublime pleasures, the thrill of  joys unclean
The taste of terror, bitter-sweet, divine and yet obscene

We are the Lords of Annwn, the riders on the storm....

Winds upon the sacred hill howl wilder than before
Like flaying knives they sting his skin, cutting to the core
They cloud the senses, spin the mind until he can just see
The Twilight Lords and Horn‚d Ones amongst the ancient trees
The tumult that surrounds him it rises more and more
As if the Earth and Heaven were fighting a great war

We are the Lords of Annwn, the riders on the storm.....

From the void angels and demons of the Host appear
His plea heard, the hunt is up, the prey running in fear
Horses and riders thunder all around him through the rain.
Then he feels the rush of blood and the sudden, shocking pain
This close to death, life sings louder, everything's so clear
But as he falls beneath the hounds the horn's all he can hear

We are the Lords of Annwn, the riders on the storm....


By Michele [Miki] Dennis