Merlin Unbound

I am the root. I am the green fuse. I am the stem, the bud, the dry twig, and the stealthy footstep that snaps it in the night. I am the rising hair on the back of your neck. I am Merlin, the bard, and I sing of it all. I am the bard of warm sheets, and insincere ones as much. I am the empty gesture, and the chill that sets upon the pillow. I am Love itself, and the murderer of Love. I am the arrow on its mark. I am the dregs of wine at the bottom of the barrel. I am the wrong unredressed, and the debt long unpaid. I am Merlin, the bard, And I remember it all. I am the vocation unheeded, the monk with no prayer, and the lusty nun, alone in her bed. I am the trickster. I am my own mother and my own father, incubus and succubus, one and the same. I am the milky breath of your firstborn. I am the scent of his decay. I am Merlin the Conjurer, and I conjure it all. I am the rising star in your firmament and the wellspring of your dreams. I am the grains of sand in your hourglass. I am your merciless mirror, year after year. I am the green moss awaiting your bones. I am the greedy worms. I am your life’s purpose, and the odds against it. I am your last chance. I am all the times you turned back. I am your fresh start. I am the gnome, the sylph, the salamander, and the undine. I am the severed head, the cauldron, and the threefold death. I am the angel. I am the serpent. I am the hawk that circles in the blue. I am each letter of your name. I am Merlin, the bard. I am you. And I sing of us all.