Faery Wind
    It blew out from a forest green
    Where I came in search of light.
    It came from the courts of the Faery Queen,
    And it came on the edge of night.

    The first hint I had of its coming
    Was a sudden scent of golden flowers
    And the sound of deep soft drumming
    Never heard in daylit hours.

    I lifted my head to watch the sunset,
    Thinking the music that came to me
    Came from that place of sun and scarlet,
    Or from behind a western tree.

    But the music came from the east,
    The country of dawn and ascending moon.
    I slowly turned, fearing some beast.
    From a lake came the cry of a loon.

    For suddenly there were lakes all around me,
    Rippled by touch of that faery wind,
    Reflecting here and there a golden tree.
    In my ears the music dinned.

    I turned slow circles, fear and wonder
    At play like eagles in my heart.
    Drums echoed, a soft bright thunder,
    And then the trees did sway and part.

    A stag such as I have never seen
    Came down to the lakes on silent feet
    To drink between leaves of golden green.
    He was dark as shadow, and as fleet.

    He lifted his head; his eyes proud
    Swept me with a faintly dark regard.
    Then he tossed his antlers, and like a cloud
    Drank, and vanished like song of bard.

    Shadows whispered in voices high
    As I stood in that place where I did not belong.
    I lifted my head to watch the sky,
    And saw a moon borne on waves of song.

    The voices were singing beneath the stars,
    Twining through the deepening dusk,
    Singing, singing, from afar.
    My songs were but an empty husk.

    The drums swelled, and so did flutes
    That mingled dark with melodic wail.
    Harps and trumpets, cymbals and lutes,
    Filled the forest and the dale.

    Dancing through the wash of night,
    Dancing toward the singing wild,
    I went towards the distant light,
    As unthinking as a child.

    The forest danced to solemn tunes
    Long unheard by mortal men.
    The lakes reflected shining moons
    No mortal will ever see again.

    The trees around me, bright and dark,
    No breath of autumn will ever breathe.
    The song around me- that no lark
    Will ever match at height of grief.

    Light and shadow, wind and water,
    And fire burning ever far,
    And laughter of a faery daughter,
    Lured me on like a distant star.

    The scent of the flowers, golden as light,
    Wild perfume through all the wood,
    Filled my head like scent of night.
    I breathed more than any mortal should.

    The faery wind was gone like a blur,
    Bearing the light of the other place.
    I thought I heard a final whisper,
    And the flowers added a final grace.

    Then I knelt on grass once more,
    In the light of the rising moon,
    Cast again on the mortal shore
    Where plays no hint of faery tune.

    And that is why, in forest glen,
    Go no deeper than you must go.
    I will never find beauty again,
    And I wait ever for a faery wind to blow.