Up On Castles High

Upon the jagged peak it stands
A keep of dark, forbidden dread
Not wrought by mortal minds or hands
But gods long cursed and left for dead

Its towers scrape the ashen skies
In shadows veiled, unblessed by light
Here numbers breathe, and symbols rise
To twist the stars in dreadful rite

Nine pillars hold that cryptic place
And seven gates of rusted woe
Through thirteen paths, in jagged trace
The lost and damned are bade to go

O faithless spires, accursed throne
Where demons tremble, saints despair
Their whispers chill the marrowed bone
A nameless fear fills frozen air

The walls do weep with eldritch verse
In tongues unknown, of ancient scorn
Each chant a curse, each line a hearse
To carry souls unborn, forlorn

Beneath the stones, a restless stir
Of horrors bound by rites arcane
They writhe, in symbols dark and pure
To tempt the foolish or insane

Here specters kneel to gods unblessed
The blind, the mad, the half-deceased
Their visages in shadows dressed
To haunt where even fiends find peace

No heaven’s light shall grace this keep
No holy name be spoke or heard
For those who wake what dead gods sleep
Shall know the end of thought and word

O castle high, where silence reigns
Where numbers rule, where reason dies
A dread domain, where madness feigns  
A solemn throne beneath cold skies