CLEARBROOK: Song of Sur

by BJ VanLook

AKA Lady Banjo

We ran with the wolves in the green-growing Holt
Ten turns of the seasons ago
But the humans came bringing hungry flames
And we had only one place to go.

We lived with the Sun-Folk in the gold desert
Four turns of the seasons ago
In Suntop’s young hands, we left the hot sands
To a place only Suntop would know

We found ourselves caught in Winnowill’s mountain
Four turns of the seasons ago
Then for Two-Edge’s quest and at Cutter’s behest
We followed the Black Snake below.

We followed Lord Voll to the foot of the mountains
Three turns of the seasons ago
Voll died, Gliders fled, next I knew, you were dead,
In read and white and blood and snow.

We made war for the Palace of the High Ones
Three turns of the seasons ago
Timmain said that death is like the first breath
And that both are all we can know.

Now I stand in the Palace, vibrant with powers
It had not three seasons ago
And your hunt-brother’s here, his soul washed with tears
For a mad elf he killed moons ago.

You fell on the side of the frozen mountains
Three turns of the seasons ago
Now I love a new name (tho’ not quite the same)
And I still hear “Sur” in the snow.

Now I know, my beloved, just what Timmain meant
Three turns of the seasons ago
Death is growth -- tho’ it cost -- and love’s never lost
And death gives us new ways to grow.