"Melaine (poem)" by Kate "Silverfish" Jennings

Melaine sits by the fountain
Wrapped in a rain-grey veil.
Even the sky is weeping,
Even her hands are pale.

Show us your heart, say the golden birds
Upon the blue-star bough.
Melaine once had a heart of fire -
Only of ashes now.

Sing us a song, say the scarlet fish,
Sing as you did of old.
Melaine the sad knows only one song,
And even the tune is cold.

Melaine sings by the fountain
And all those who pass by
Look to the high and marble wall
And think they hear stars cry.

Why did my people bring me
To Tzeran hard and stone?
Why did my people bring me
And why leave me here alone?

She who might once have cheered me
Vanished like rising dawn.
He who might once have loved me,
Like all I loved, is gone.

No fire can be rekindled
When all has burnt away.
I cannot learn to smile again
When sorrow has come to stay.

Statue-like by the fountain
She sits a silent age.
Evening turns to morning,
Seasons turn like a page.

The fountain at last falls silent,
The star-trees fade to grey.
A traveller wanders through ancient streets -
All else have gone away.

And by the wall of a garden,
Abandoned and ivy-grown
He hears Melaine sing to the silence
Through centuries alone.

She who might once have cheered me
Vanished like rising dawn.
He who might once have loved me,
Like all I loved, is gone.