The Hounds of Blackmoor

The bell tolls, sounding of midnight
A burning candle, my only light
Lightning strikes, unreal and bright
Thunder rolls, the raven takes flight

I can feel my body giving in
Wracked with hate, piss and sin
In the midnight hour the black dog sounds
Soon they will place me in the ground

Why must I go to meet my maker?
When the maker never made me who I am
I’ve been all, smith and baker
Never once have I worshiped the ram

But never has Old Scratch offered me slight
Just kept on my left side to show me right
But now the black hounds come for me
The bright rays of tomorrow, I won’t see

Hacking in pain, I cough up blood
Lowering my knees into the mud
Scream to God, “Why must I die?”
‘Tis but a joke or is it my time?

No answer forthcoming, nothing heard
Just baying of hounds, cry of the bird
A raven’s black wings flap over me
Please, oh lord, let this be a dream

In my life You never gave me
Anything at all, gold or seed
To plant my roots and mark my place
I must have been your greatest disgrace

Now you want me just to gloat
Make me drift here like a ghost
I shall never see paradise
It will never grace my damned eyes

I don’t want to give up my shell
I would rather live in this hell
Then to see you smile as I’m broken
Please, oh lord, give me this token

I beg for life

The rain, it pours down my face
I feel so attached to this place
A small town that’s my house and home
Thinking of leaving, shakes my bones

In youth a man feels so immortal
Youth like a hare, old like a turtle
In age you beg for every last breath
Anything to help stave off death

In the long hours of night cold sets in
In every mirror you see death’s head grin
Every sounds is like a spectral hound
Like a broken gravestone marking the ground

Paranoia makes you jump at shadows
Old Scratch is chuckling down below
He knows you’ll soon be in his grasp
His laughter unnerving you, like a rasp

The moon, it hides behind the clouds
I once stood so strong and proud
Of the deeds I had done in my life
Marrying my most beautiful wife

A cancer ravaged her and left me alone
All I have left are these old bones
Childless, no one to carry my name
I guess this is all my own blame

Please just give me one more moment
I want every last torment
I’m still alive and I want my time
Damn You, do not take what is mine

Shivering, clothes sodden with the rain
Lightning flashes, thunder booms again
What’s that approaching in the dark?
In my face sounds a fearsome bark

The Hounds of Blackmoor are here for me
Found me in the mud on my knees
Kneeling, shivering and so prone
They have come to take me home

In the jaws of the beast, I feel nothing
In my mind I can see everything
My wife awaits me at Heaven’s gates
For the first time, I embrace my fate

But it’s soon gone as the beast turns
We’re heading down south as I burn
As I approach the wrought iron gates
The fires of damnation, for me awaits

From high above I can hear laughter
No Heaven for me, no morning after
Old Scratch looks up from his tome
He grins at me and says, “Welcome Home.”

(c) 2013 Frank Green