Ranks of Departed

 The hunt has drawn them from their graves
to run by side of hounds and men
eight legs are seen on the lead horse
Odin’s chase has come this night
to the halls this column rushes
trailing storms with mighty crashes
they take their leave from earth’s bosom
to warn the living of doom’s coming.

The tumult is of pounding hooves
howling dogs and raging winds
sent as omen on storm’s back
to their kin still on this side
standing at the window’s sill
wondering why the omen calls
on the night of deepest dark
ahead of days with same mark.

The gatherer has found his kind
departed out on fullest night
though the veil calls them fast
they worry of the living left
against the coming trials foretold
foundations shaken to the core
augury of the greedy ones
with no council but their own.

Heed the heavens when they quake
the spectral army astride the air
howling warnings to those huddled
behind the doors and windows shuttered
follow leaders at your peril
the night may wane to the day
yet in the light outside the storm
the ranks of departed may now grow.

2016, Sean Green. All Rights Reserved, 20161221.

The poem “Ranks of Departed” is part acknowledgment of Yule, part social statement.  The storms of the solstice bode ill tidings for the living, foretelling of trials and passings.  I pray that the wild hunts of 2017 carry no extra souls.