Work Text:
Crescent Moon, and I
I rode out paces a-twenty
Watched the shipwreck fold the sky,
Rolling stardust! I cannot find
Myself in this galaxy;
But there she was, and I,
I saw the princess high,
Crescent, the moon in her eye.
And I,
My heart struck a star!
She sighed.
Let me her wrists behind her bind
Docile, though grief marred her eyes
More tiger than lamb. To whose surprise?
No defence for her would ever suffice.
But still, my soul ached to try.
For if destiny were so kind
If ever I was to find
Her again, I shall sigh
At the sight of the lady,
The Moon in her eye,
Waxing crescent, and I.
To what end? I chased her high and dry
To strange new words where orchids fly
And heavy voices sing lullabies
Made from glass and wings of butterflies —
I knew someday I would die.
"I am your guardian!" To her I cried
Yet away I watched her fly
My duty unfulfilled, and I,
I lost my lady to the skies
The princess and the crescent moon
Without I.
Saccharine dreams, I drank you instead,
Dreamt of my lady in her bed
Safe and warm and somewhere high above
Somewhere she can forget me and her love
Find me a universe without her face,
Yet find me one where she is safe
Away from me. But should worlds collide?
Fly me into her orbit, one by nine?
My swords unsheathed, from crucible
I rise.
Ash in my eyes, I come to find
My lady, whom I know only by
Her name, the crescent moon in her eye.
O princess borne of jealous green!
The world reborn, the world unseen.
Would you bring them to your knees, my queen?
From mother you fly, yet I,
I caught the tear in your eye,
Saccharine stardust. And I,
I watched your banner rise
Ever by your side was I
To follow, to dive, to die.
My swords I pledge to lady and life,
An oath I swear to stars in the sky,
The North Star on her face, so bright.
My lady with the crescent moon
Dancing in her eye,
and I, forever, amen! The knight by her side.