"Joan´s Fall Poem" by Elisabeth A. Wilhelm

Upon her horse of white,

She commands the presence of angels,

Her eyes of fire, holy and

Unquenched

Beneath skies of brooding steel

Stand shoulder to shoulder

Troops of peasants, with

Axes of steel, and pikes

Held in hands no longer shivering

For they are led by the maiden of light

Across the fields of black,

Corpses of children and dead

Sheep alike, slaughtered and burned

Innocence draining red

Into ravines of mud,

The wraiths of ravaged souls

Turned their handiwork of the Prince of Darkness

Himself into flames of hell

Upon the land of those who worship yet sin

The armored rider in white

Brings her sword of righteous light to bear

The light of heavens flashing in her eyes,

The echoes of angelÕs sighs filling her mind,

With a cry of godly guided rage,

Charges the horse of light forward into the dark

Valley of Death

Heartened, her peasants follow her lead,

Treading behind her wings,

Covering them all with a sacred sight

Upon the raised hills of muddy ruin,

Gallops the maiden of light,

For on the crest lies her downfall,

A black knight upon a steed of darkness,

Ribboned mane blowing in an ill wind,

Revulsion spreads from Him,

As does a plague of eternal darkness,

Deadly to bear, yet so beautiful

And bewitching thing of the heart,

The maiden shakes her head,

The shiverings of sacred madness tingeing her thoughts

Behold, Maiden of Light,

Evil resides within Him,

Bring him down, cast him back

To the seething pits of Hell,

For he hast no place here

Bring him down

To his knees upon the blood

He hath spilled,

To hear the screams of the tortured

Lamb, bring down your

Sword upon his neck,

And wipe away the festering

Evil within Him

Maiden, go forth!

The maiden wraps her hand slowly around the sword

May I bring him down, the thoughts scream

As the horse of black slowly gallops toward her

The knightÕs own demons unleashed,

Seems to stop the smoke above the hills,

The light cooling rain falling yet so protractedly,

The maidenÕs own thoughts of heaven cease,

Her eyes following the knight of black,

Bewitched, her own madness tearing for her to

Command her sword,

Yet, she is powerless beneath His grip

Soon, a sword pulled across her throat,

Bites in her throat, so cold and lethal,

The knightÕs visor pulled back,

And a gasp leaves the maidenÕs lips,

Leaving a trickle of blood down her armor of white,

For a face of serenity stares back,

Eyes of haunted gray watch her own,

So deep and tortured are those eyes,

Her heart seems to wrench loose of her heated mind,

And tumble away to bliss,

The eyes smile grimly,

May we meet again soon, Dove of the Heavens,

Sacrificed to me, I promise there will be

No pain, or wild thoughts or searing light,

Maid of Light, I shall find you yet again

Come rain of steel

Smoke curls yet again above broken spears,

The small of death cloying and strong,

The fall of drops of rain, felt soothing

To her heated skin,

She did not hear the shout of warning,

Desperate and in vain,

As a bolt of wood slams into her,

Pain, so far and sweet, filling her mind,

As the Dove of Heavens slowly begins to fall from

Her horse of white,

The heavenly shrieks in her mind growing wild,

As eyes of gray find her heart again.