PRAYERS FOR VINDOS
I Hail You in the Morning
A Morning Prayer for Gwyn ap Nudd
Gwyn ap Nudd, White son of Mist,
I hail You in the morning
and pray with You beside me
I will never be lost again.
Gwyn ap Nudd, Hunter in the Skies,
I hail You in the morning
and pray with You beside me
my hunt, my quest, will never die.
Gwyn ap Nudd, Bull of Conflict,
I hail You in the morning
and pray with You beside me
I will keep on fighting through this day.
Gwyn ap Nudd, Keeper of the Cauldron,
I hail You in the morning
and pray with You beside me
my life will be filled with inspiration.
Gwyn ap Nudd, Ruler of Annwn,
I hail You in the morning
and pray with You beside me
I will know the unfathomable depths.
Gwyn ap Nudd, Gatherer of Souls,
I hail You in the morning
and pray with You beside me
I will gather my pieces be whole again.
Gwyn ap Nudd, Lord of the Dead,
I hail You in the morning
and pray with You beside me
I will walk with courage until the end.
~
I Hail You in the Evening
An Evening Prayer to Gwyn ap Nudd
Gwyn ap Nudd, White son of Mist,
I hail You in the evening
and thank You for Your guidance
through the mist and the fog and the rain.
Gwyn ap Nudd, Hunter in the Skies,
I hail You in the evening
and thank You for Your guidance
as my hunt, my quest, leads into night.
Gwyn ap Nudd, Bull of Battle,
I hail You in the evening
and thank You for Your guidance
as our battles end at the close of the day.
Gwyn ap Nudd, Keeper of the Cauldron,
I hail You in the evening
and thank You for Your guidance
as I become the vessel for Your inspiration.
Gwyn ap Nudd, Ruler of Annwn,
I hail You in the evening
and thank You for Your guidance
as I come to know the unfathomable depths.
Gwyn ap Nudd, Gatherer of Souls,
I hail You in the evening
and thank You for Your guidance
as I gather up the lost pieces of my soul.
Gwyn ap Nudd, Lord of the Dead,
I hail You in the evening
and thank You for Your guidance
as I walk with courage towards the end.
~
All My Devotion
White Son of Mist, mist-filled wanderer, Your hound haunts the cloud mountains where Your horse grazes on nothing…
…and I bring all my devotion to You…
Bull of Battle, undying warrior, Your sword parts the veil where carrion birds circle and the past unfurls…
… and I bring all my devotion to You…
Guide of Souls, gentle hunter, the graves lie open and the dead ride the storm of my soul…
… and I bring all my devotion to You…
King of Annwn, Your star shines brightly, I kneel before it at the end when silence rules…
… and I bring all my devotion to You
~
When You Hunt for Souls in the Winter Rain
For Gwyn on Nos Galan Gaeaf
When you hunt for souls in the winter rain
With your snorting horse and hound unleashed
I shall listen in the gaps between towns knowing
Through trembling years you come in many guises.
When you hunt for souls in the winter rain
I shall listen in the gaps between towns knowing
Your face is the night storm of the underworld
And you shall bring terror to end all terror
With your snorting horse and hound unleashed.
Knowing through the years you come in many guises
I shall not only hail you as a warrior or medieval king
On the corpse roads I walk to ancestral graveyards.
When you hunt for souls in the winter rain
I shall listen in the gaps between towns knowing
You shall not only lead the hunt or coffin bearers
To the toll of bells casting your glamour
With your snorting horse and hound unleashed.
Knowing through the years you come in many guises
I shall be wary yet ultimately know you bring peace.
Beneath these catacombs is something beautiful.
~
Winter King
you take me back to what is raw,
glacial plains of horror,
the obnoxious beauty of it all
to beyond the ice age
when millennia ago we met
when the universe drew breath,
when the binding song coalesced.
You came as cold wind
and your inspiration was death.
You are the muse that moves the forest,
the ice that strips the hills,
the hunt that runs without flesh or bone
by the force of its boreal will.
Your voice is the chill that keeps me alive,
the poem that sparkles when all else dies.
When frost rimes my window I cannot forget
you were there at my beginning
and will greet me again at the end.
~
If I Had To Fight Your Battle
For Gwyn on Nos Galan Mai
If I had to fight your battle
could I wake every day
and live with growing trepidation
about the coming of May?
If I had to fight your battle
could I prepare every year,
knowing the inevitability of cycles
still face my rival with honour?
If I had to fight your battle
could I do so wind, rain or shine
or would I flee the harsh rule of these islands
and head for sunnier climes?
If I had to fight your battle
would I do so for woman or man,
stature, sovereignty,
or the broken heart of this land?
If I had to fight your battle
would I do so with sword and spear
or resort to guns and nuclear arms
to blast away this deadlock with my fear?
If I had to fight your battle
could I do so until Judgement Day?
If I lost could I let go,
knowing love will never die?
~
You Are Gone
A mourning song for Gwyn
Dawn arrives yet You are gone.
The birds are singing yet You are gone.
The flowers are turning their petalled heads
towards the sun yet You are gone.
Your absence is like the spinning of the Void.
You are gone to its bottommost depths
with Your castle of cold stone.
You are gone but Your haunting
is everywhere with Your promise of return.
You died but You are not dead but only sleeping.
We share a heartbeat and a breath and every one
brings us a little closer together.
I remember this when
You are gone.
