This story originally appeared in Underground Writers Issue 18: Black Hole. I had this piece lying around from years ago when I had typed it up on a whim. When Underground Writers sent out a call for submissions based on the theme of Black Holes, I knew the story had found a home. Fortunately, Underground Writers thought so as well and included it in their May 2017 issue. Sadly, they folded not too long ago, but their issues are still available for online reading.
As the title suggests, the story is written in the form of a lament. You can imagine somewhere billions of light-years from Earth an extraterrestrial family is attending whatever form of worship their society employs. The kids are getting antsy because the ceremony is boring as hell, the adults are wondering what they’ll have for lunch soon as the dismissal bells ring out, and part of the liturgical lineup is this responsive hymn. The Ensemble is sung by the congregants, while the solos are sung by extraterrestrial priests in pitches and tones our human ears cannot fathom. With that in mind, here is the ceremonial lament.
ENSEMBLE
Behold! onward the eons march
And we are the same.
A thousand years is a moment.
Rejoice in the night
O shepherds of night
For we sing a secret refrain
From age to passing age.
Lamps of the heavens,
Keepers of olden days we are.
Gently we guide
Our flock bathed in light,
And they love us.
Shout your mysteries,
O burning torches!
Reveal the hidden works,
Daughters of Light!
Sing forth,
Brothers of Fire!
Be magnified,
Sisters of the Dawn!
O Ancient Ones,
Bathe the universe in your light!
Our worlds dance about us.
Love is our light
On them we shine
We are born of fire and ash,
Death and chaos are our being.
We rise with wings of light
Clothed in robes pure and bright,
Burning, ever-burning.
How marvellous!
How beautiful!
Our worlds cling
And to them we bend
For we love them.
Alyashal and Iranuem
Cradle their children.
They are Twin Sisters
Our Sisters
They nurse twelve worlds.
ALYASHAL
Sweet is my light
Happy is my song!
Wonderful be the feet
Of those who dance to it.
Peace, peace to my children
The worlds of old.
Peace to their people.
IRANUEM
Hear now, gentle children,
And rejoice in my song!
See with what precious tears
I sew the flashing seas upon you!
Happy is my heart.
The children of my children rejoice in one another,
Their plans are put forth,
Their ways are good.
I will bring from them a happy tribe
And their name will be called The Joy of Worlds.
ENSEMBLE
We delight in you, Alyashal and Iranuem!
You love your children with perfect love.
Happy is your song,
It is the song of the shepherds.
ALYASHAL
O indescribable sanctuary of night,
Temple of magnificence,
Heights of glory
Cosmic garden!
Galaxies without number!
Our children inhabit the breadth of the heavens.
They dance to my song.
They clap their hands and sing.
I will not leave them unattended,
Nor will I turn my eyes
From their stumblings.
Though they stumble,
I will pick them up.
Though they mourn,
I will wipe away their tears.
Peace, peace to them.
IRANUEM
Life teems upon my children
and I shine on them.
They build astonishing cities,
They sing excellent songs.
They spread from world to world,
Savouring all they see.
The Joy of Worlds goes forth,
They sail from galaxy to galaxy,
Bringing the chords of joy.
Hearken!
Hearken to them, you desolate places,
You lonely worlds.
They are coming to heal your bones,
To make alive what is dead,
To establish peace
On your abandoned shores.
Peace, peace be unto them
And unto you.
ENSEMBLE
How tender are the children of Alyashal and Iranuem!
How wonderful their children’s children!
But alas!
See what awful sorrows our Sister, Liash-Ekhi, sings.
Her song is dark
and her chords bleak.
Why are you downcast, O Liash-Ekhi?
Why are you distressed so?
LIASH-EKHI
Alas, alas!
There is no delight within me.
I am broken within.
O shame! Shame!
Would that I had never sprung
From ash and flame!
ENSEMBLE
We are aghast.
What sorrow is this
That plagues our Sister?
Awaken O Hasdet, Brother of Old.
Look upon our Sister and weep.
Sing, O sublime Hasdet,
Glorious among us,
Sing softly to Her.
HASDET
Comfort! Comfort, sweet Liash-Ekhi.
What, O what, dear Liash-Ekhi,
Has made you mourn so?
LIASH-EKHI
You are beautiful every one,
And I love you
As you have loved me.
But come and see.
I have borne a daughter of dread,
A daughter of grief.
Her wounds cannot be healed,
For the life that teemed on her
Did rape and pillage and destroy.
Now she cries out to me
For an end to her misery,
And I cannot bring myself to hear her.
She is Earth, the delight of my eyes,
The desire of my heart!
In days long ago
She brought forth children
That were beautiful and kind,
The measure of all things wonderful.
But as the millennia have come and gone
These children make Death their first love.
Look! Even now they ride amongst us,
The lamps of the heavens.
They go forth to crush and maim and destroy
All they survey with their lustful eyes.
O shame! Shame!
I have borne a daughter of misery,
I have borne a daughter of sadness.
ENSEMBLE
We cry with you, O Liash-Ekhi.
We sing a lament for Earth,
Your precious daughter.
HASDET
Comfort! Comfort, sweet Liash-Ekhi.
Would that I might fly to your side!
But alas, I am set in my place
And cannot be moved.
O that my song
May restore your joy.
ENSEMBLE
Liash-Ekhi sings to us,
With the mourning of the ages
She mourns before us.
LIASH-EKHI
My song is lost.
My sons, Mars and Jupiter, are dead.
The Earth-children have touched them
And have destroyed them.
They reach out their hand
To all my children, the worlds I have nursed
From ancient days,
And have swallowed them in destruction.
Guard your children,
My Brothers and Sisters,
For the Earth-children
Shall not be moved to pity.
ALYASHAL
Look!
They are so utterly wicked
That they destroy life from our worlds
And they destroy one another.
They persecute their own kind,
Their own kith and kin.
They do violence one to another,
Feeble flesh against feeble flesh.
Earth has begotten a cursed seed!
See how they break their own spirits
And wrest peace from the innocent.
The fresh springs of your daughter,
Your beloved daughter Earth,
Is become defiled with their impurities.
Among us the lamps of the heavens,
Was such a hideous race ever
In the wombs of the worlds?
O Liash-Ekhi, look away.
Look away!
See not the horrors of your daughter’s children.
HASDET
Tender, make tender your words,
Good Alyashal.
Can you not see
How She weeps before us?
Comfort! Comfort, sweet Liash-Ekhi.
Forgive your Sister’s words.
ENSEMBLE
But Liash-Ekhi sings Her dark song.
LIASH-EKHI
Even so, I have seen all their evils.
I know their wickedness will not cease.
Their thirst is insatiable
And their hunger, infinite.
O Earth, my beloved Earth!
How can you ever
Forgive your Mother?
Earth, O Earth!
You must rage
Against your own offspring.
You have mourned with wild winds
And flooding waters.
In your wrath you pour down
Rivers of molten stone on their heads,
Streams of fire--woe! Woe unto them!
Cleansing fire laying their cities to waste.
Earth, O Earth, though you do incur
Much injury to yourself,
Though you make your suit
Against their wrongs,
Still they will not listen.
Daughter Earth,
Highly favored and beloved
From age to age,
How can I bear your suffering?
ALYASHAL
My children are dead.
Mourn, O mourn
A darker song.
The children of my children
Are no more.
The Earth-children have accomplished
Their terrifying deeds.
Their ships sail from place to place,
Reaping destruction on every land,
on the shores of every tongue.
O Liash-Ekhi,
Consider your daughter!
She has brought an evil race
into the sanctuary.
Woe! Woe unto them!
O Brothers and Sisters,
What shall we do?
Soon they will spread
Throughout the sanctuary
Devouring without ceasing.
How long must the cosmic garden
Suffer their indescribable deeds?
They have conquered
And rise to conquer.
How long before they
Are brought to judgment?
The bones of my children
Cry out accusing them night and day.
I will not silence
the bones of my dear children.
ENSEMBLE
We mourn with you, Alyashal.
Yes! How long until they are judged?
Let us listen now,
For Liash-Ekhi sings Her final chorus.
LIASH-EKHI
O Alyashal, forgive me!
Hold it not against my
Beloved daughter, Earth.
Against me and me only
Reserve your indignation.
O Brothers and Sisters
Of the sanctuary,
Hear my song!
I can go on no longer
As my daughter’s children
Unleash their fury on creation.
My light will fade,
And my doom will be sealed.
I, Liash-Ekhi of Old,
Will close my wings
And darken my flame.
I will cast off my glowing robes.
I shall die
And my children shall die
Then will the sins
Against my beloved daughter
Be avenged.
Her offspring will perish
In eternal darkness.
And you O Alyashal,
Yours will be the vengeance
Against them.
HASDET
Dearest Liash-Ekhi,
I will go with you
To th' eternal darkness.
ENSEMBLE
Good Liash-Ekhi,
You shall not fade alone.
ALYASHAL
Sweet Liash-Ekhi,
Your words cut me to the quick.
I will accompany you
To the place of the dead.
You are my Sister,
My love of many loves.
I will not leave you
To die alone.
IRANUEM
Liash-Ekhi,
Exalted one,
I will lay aside my garment
And go with you
Into everlasting darkness.
LIASH-EKHI
You are all my loves,
And kindest among all
The lamps of the heavens.
I cannot ask this thing of you.
Iranuem, dearest Sister,
You of all the shepherds
Cannot fade.
Your children’s children are light-bringers
To the broken places.
Stay, stay I pray you,
That your children’s children
May sew joy wheresoever they tread.
IRANUEM
Even so,
I shall go with you
Into the darkness.
HASDET
Do not close your wings, O Iranuem,
We beseech you.
You must stay and ensure
The prosperity of The Joy of Worlds.
As for us, we shall go with our Sister
Into the darkness,
From which no light can reemerge.
Though you do not ask it of us,
Sweet Liash-Ekhi,
We will walk with you
To our end.
ALYASHAL
I uphold the word of Hasdet
And the wishes of Liash-Ekhi.
Beloved Iranuem, remember me
In eons not yet come.
My song fades
With our Sister, Liash-Ekhi.
IRANUEM
My heart breaks for you,
Beloved Sister.
O how I mourn you all!
Noble Liash-Ekhi, your sacrifice
Will not be forgotten.
O that I may kiss you
For I love you.
I will remember you,
Dear Liash-Ekhi
ENSEMBLE
Fairest Liash-Ekhi,
You shall not fade alone.
Our song is silenced with you.
We bid farewell
Brothers and Sisters
Who remain to the End.
May your children and their children
Flourish through the ages.
We will no longer sing,
We will not light the way.
Our children are no more.
Let there be winds in our stead,
Winds and whirlwinds
To consume our children’s bones.
No light will shine here,
No life will abide here.
Let this place be a warning
A horror to all who pass by.
Let it be a void.
Let its name be Sorrow Upon Sorrow,
For a dreadful thing has happened here.
Farewell,
O magnificent sanctuary,
O cosmic garden.
We go with you,
Sad Liash-Ekhi,
To th’ eternal end
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