Endings

For all things slay each other.

The wind passes over mountains
And rushes through the trees,
It roars between the fruited grains
And crosses seven seas.
The wind cracks over wither’d plains
From the storm that it flees.
      For the ending cometh always,
      All things slay each other.
      Until the End of all the Days
      Shall Man reject his brother.

The storm is bleak, and black, and bare,
Bare as the wayward soul.
It roars its great, empty despair
At anything still whole.
The storm shall end and time repair
Its blast and thundered coal.
      For the ending cometh always,
      All things slay each other.
      Until the End of all the Days
      Shall Man betray his brother.

The bow that bounds from sky to sky
A tint or two or ten,
The arch that stretches far and high
Beyond the curse of men.
The bow from which flame's dart shall fly
And what shall happen then?
      For the ending cometh always,
      All things slay each other.
      Until the End of all the Days
      Shall Cain kill his own brother.