Growth of Man

Gather your flesh and bone,
Uncover the shadowed eyes of your youth;
For I have something now to say.

Do not hunt, like fire-eyed jackals,
-Burnt lips spread wide, teeth reflecting madness-
The darkness of man.
For you will find it.
Do not set traps to wait hungrily,
Grasping with metal jaws at hoof and nail,
For the demons that lay in wait.
It will not be long,
Before the staining crimson of generations
Spills from the hall, and –with throats torn open-
You sing of understanding, and choke on your gurgle of remorse.

Look on, with unshadowed sight, into the woods,
The darkened canopy of leaves, soft edge of rock.
Do not hunt greed, in all its fame, for twisted horn or golden coin.
For it is your pursuit that gives speed to night,
Sets wind to the darkness, and speed to flight.
Hunt not for evil beings- The world is young.
The solid oak has not yet fallen,
And the willow not yet knows how to weep.
Through pursuit you will give birth to a blackened shadow,
An ashen being that will emerge bloody and raw.
-You will teach it to hunt, with metal jaws, burnt lips spread wide.

Gather your flesh and bone,
Uncover the shadowed eyes of your youth;
And do not hunt for an illusion, that you will turn to truth.