It’s my wedding anniversary today, here is this year’s poem/song. This one was a bit of a rush job to produce after coming back from DragonCon, so is a little less polished than I would like.
There’s no Force upon the Earth
There’s no force upon the earth
That will make me doubt your worth;
There’s no place on earth that I would rather be
Than beside you every day, united on our way
To claim the prize that shines eternally.
‘Cause your love is true, and it’s seen me through
So many times of darkness and despair;
You give me strength to stand with your loving hand
And all the signs that you so deeply care.
More than silver, more than gold,
I hope that I grow old
Surrounded by the fruits of our great love;
When bound to you I’m free, you are the one for me,
The girl in the whole world I’m most proud of.
After a highly enjoyable discussion of the Classic The Once and Future King by T.H. White at DragonCon yesterday, I was able to makes some new friends and give the premier showing of the promotional video for the Upcoming Superversive Press anthology Tales of the Once and Future King. It was very well received, and I can now share it with you all via the magic of youtube:
There is also a more orchestral version of the song, in which Sean McCleery again showcases his considerable musical talent:
Both versions of the song are now available for purchase from cdbaby.com, and in time will also become available from a wide range of music sites. As this is my first foray into the world of professional music, it is an exciting and also daunting prospect. Click on the image below to visit my artist page, where both versions can be downloaded.
The Lyrics of the song are below:
A Tale of the Once and Future King
I’ll tell you a tale so your hearts won’t quail
Of the Once and Future King.
Surrounded by heroes, how mighty the cheer rose
At the hope his presence would bring.
With the sword from the stone
For his sins he atoned;
Though he did go away,
He’ll be back here one day
To reclaim his rightful throne.
A shadowy hand stretched over the land
And the people were distressed.
Foul fiends of the night,
Filled with unholy might,
Gave the poor and helpless no rest.
By the power of the cross,
And at great human cost,
They were sent down to hell,
And the land was made well,
So at last they could mourn the lost.
Though we’re pressed on each side
And so many have died,
Now is not the time to despair.
We’re still strong enough
To repel and rebuff
The troops of the Queen of the Air.
We will not concede,
For in our hour of need,
It has long been foretold
That our great king of old
Will be back, and the people freed.
You may mock, you may sneer,
You may laugh out of fear,
At the hope I claim to bring:
Mere stories for children,
Or gullible pilgrims,
Of a good and righteous king?
Yet he stands in your midst
And will not be dismissed;
His heroes beside him,
His people uniting,
In his army we enlist!
It is my wife’s never-you-mindth birthday today, here is this year’s poem/song:
We Celebrate Another Year
We celebrate another year
Of your treasured presence here
On this day, we’d like to say
How much you truly mean
To this energetic family
That’s blessed with musicality
And lots of fun; you are the one,
Our most beloved queen.
Can there be a greater life
Than to have a mum or wife
As awesome as our quorum has
Declared your soul to be?
It’s your birthday, and we’ll find a way
To let you know you’re loved like no-one else
So sit back, enjoy, your sweet girl and boys
As they do things that cause your heart to melt.
Since all of my previous countdown deals have been in the US territory, I thought it would be nice to mix things up a little and offer my British readership the chance to get my work for less. As of now for five days all of my books are available for the minimum kindle UK price of 99p each! Tell your British friends they have the chance to grab one of their fellow countrymen’s work for a paltry sum.
Today, thanks to a large boost in sales of Forbidden Thoughts, I reached the lofty heights of #90 in science fiction book sales on amazon, right below two very big names in the field. This is a proud moment, and something I certainly didn’t expect to happen so soon. I did a screen capture a few hours ago, so the moment would not be lost to history…
My contribution to Forbidden Thoughts can also be found in my second poetry collection (as can my contribution to an upcoming Arthurian anthology and many other uplifting poems), so if you want to get ahead of the curve, you can check it out by clicking on the image below:
Listening to music can be therapeutic, soothing, invigorating, inspiring, heartbreaking, or depressing, much like reading or listening to a story. In fact Hans Zimmer once said that in all the music he composes his primary purpose is to tell a story, despite using no words. Listening to one of his most famous pieces (that accompanies one of the great movie endings of all time) inspired this little effort of mine below. In Zimmer’s piece, and the film, the hero is faced with a situation where all seems lost. He did everything he could, but all he has worked for has crumbled to dust before his eyes. He sees the situation for what it is, absorbs this devastating news, and yet he still finds the strength to keep going, even to sacrifice himself and his reputation to save people he will never meet, who will almost certainly never even know, let alone appreciate, what he did for them. He is able to do it quickly this time, because he’s done it before. In these respects, these few minutes are a microcosm of his entire heroic journey.
As the piece played I was struck by the ways in which it mirrored some of my own experiences (except it took me far longer to gather up the strength to keep going, and my behaviour has been far less heroic). It encourages me to keep going, to do better, to come closer to the good example set.
This is the power of story, of archetypes, of strong heroic characters, of good examples. Let us make more of them.
My piece set to Zimmer’s music can be found here, with the lyrics below that
I have known…
I have known despair, and I will not promote it.
I have known pain, and I will not glorify it.
I have known false hope, and I will not encourage it.
I have known cowardice, and I will understand, but not praise it.
I have known self-loathing, and I will not romanticize it.
I have known brokenness, defeat, lostness, and yet emerged on the other side, not unscathed, but grown.
I have known failure, and I will learn from it.
I will defend the truth.
I will not abandon my allies.
I will keep learning, and admit when I am wrong.
I will advocate for genuine hope.
I will praise and strive to create beauty.
I will call for courage in matters great and small.
I will seek to repair the damage I have caused.
I will seek to restore friendships.
I will console those who suffer.
I will encourage those who feel they can’t go on, for I have walked that path.
As we approach the end of an eventful year, and the start of a new that promises a number of big things in the near future, I could make the standard wish to you all of success, health and comfort, but I thought I’d post a little reminder of what is most important of all:
The Greatest of These
There is no force upon the earth
That can outweigh the gift of love;
No wealth or situation
That can outbid its worth;
No jewel in all its glory
No title, honour, place
That can outshine the smile that spreads
Across your loved one’s face.
While victories are powerful joys
And justice plays its part
None can match devotion
From an honest human heart.
So dance and laugh and celebrate,
Savour and appreciate,
Stand, salute, commemorate
Console and commiserate
With those you choose to love.
On this day of days, we reach the culmination of our Advent Series, with the day that all Advent Sundays look towards, what could be better than Gold Sunday?
Priceless Sunday
Beyond all hopes, beyond all dreams,
Beyond all human plots and schemes
To cure the ills that plague mankind,
The bonds that hold the weak unbind,
The wisdom of the world surpass,
To show the lost the way at last.
To shame the mighty and the strong
And show the proud where they went wrong.
To open up the narrow door
That leads to love for evermore;
All this through a baby’s birth
To reclaim corrupted Earth.
The fullness of divinity
Combined with full humanity
To be the Way, the price to pay
With unforeseen humility.
No eye had seen, no ear had heard
The mighty and incarnate Word
That cried our tears, that felt our pain,
So we could all be whole again.
The greatest enemy of all
Saw this would lead to his great fall;
He tried to tempt, to spoil, destroy,
But could not taint our source of joy.
At last That Day had come.
For more of my poetry, there are two of my collections available on Amazon:
The Zwyckyverse 