The Villanelle of the Last Days
Phillip A. Ellis
“Let's drain our glass and praise today,
and gather once again to sing:
"Zothique must die and fade away."
… ” (1 May)
Phillip A. Ellis
“Sleep deep, Zothique, drear land of the dreaming and
weird burdened. Dream not nightmares of sweetness, but
dark dooms of lost towns. Deep in dreams, dead
… ” (1 May)
Gylas' Hymn to Mordiggian: a fragment
Phillip A. Ellis
“All hail Mordiggian, Eater of the Damned Dead,
the Lord of Black Abyss, and Lord of the Last Rite.
All hail to Thee, my Dark Lord, Dispeller of Dread
… ” (1 May)
Ron Shiflet
“A sorcerous mage with books of dark lore,
Summons evil with an incantation,
Not learning from men who have gone before,
… ” (1 March)
Phillip A. Ellis
“No thief but time could stael your rubied hoards,
and loss of memory my eldritch words;
no wolves but death's could decimate your words,
… ” (1 September)
Phillip A. Ellis
“The dandy hounds of darkness break the light
of moonlit silence like cast stones that smash
windows barred and bolted against the night.
… ” (1 September)
Phillip A. Ellis
“Life can be cruel, false as a faithless wife —
I know something of peace, something of strife,
and something of pain, but mostly dark hate
… ” (1 September)
Phillip A. Ellis
“At the god's shout, I turned and tried to flee,
through wooden mazes growing dark and grey
beneath the leaves and limbs upturned to stay
… ” (1 August)
Phillip A. Ellis
“Through valleys grey the whey-faced ghouls do wind
their way along the the dreaming night in files
that snakelike sway between the deep defiles,
… ” (1 July)
Phillip A. Ellis
“Beneath the stars that furl in shapes
and beasts and men who march on high,
the cynogriffons glide and fly
… ” (1 June)
Cincor During Necromantic Rule
Ron Shiflet
“In Cincor's desolate and arid waste,
Peopled only with bones of those long dead,
The unwary traveler should make haste,
… ” (1 June)
Ron Shiflet
“Upon Yoros there fell an icy breath,
From the outermost gulfs of cosmic space,
Each person touched, quickly fell into death,
… ” (1 June)
Phillip A. Ellis
“Oh, poet-prophet, lord of eldritch verse,
from what unearthly land did you arise?
To what mephitic muse in Auburn's skies
… ” (1 May)
Ron Shiflet
“The Ring of Eibon, forged with reddish stone
And set with a gemstone of purple hue,
Contained a demon of whom it was known,
… ” (1 April)
Ron Shiflet
“Fabled Zothique's hated necromancers
Can readily secure knowledge they seek,
Flesh of the corpses provide the answers
… ” (1 April)
Ron Shiflet
“Through shadowed aeons I pursue Zothique
For man's ultimate fate to discover,
This last continent with answers I seek,
… ” (1 April)
Phillip A. Ellis
“Listen, my love, to the evening breeze. It whispers softly, as
it rises from the world's dead verge where waters turn into
endless plains of ice.
… ” (1 April)
Boyd Pearson
“Tsathoggua did gurgle,
about the thief of the 39th girdle.
Who was the infamous Satampra Zeiros,
… ” (23 September)
Ron Shiflet
“Oh Lord Tsathoggua or perhaps Saint Toad,
From Saturn you have traveled to the Earth.
Serpent men of Yoth first traveled your road
… ” (27 August)
Boyd Pearson
“It was on a moonless night as dark as pitch,
that Malygris cast his runic spell.
For endless aeons tarried body lich,
… ” (27 July)