Before the war, this grave darksome pall
Pressed upon the face of England
We were sovereign to nothing less
Than the map of our souls solicitous to reign
Together in a peace these wicked times disdain
Then empires saw much more to gain

The Crown discounts our loss
Life cannot count the cost
These numbers fount like water
The dead, the dying, those on route to slaughter

Valentine sweet spine entwined
I am sorry that I left you here, in time
I will find, the path back from the other side
So keep a candle burning
In your heart that is my shrine

"No memento mori
For he passed away
For faraway glory
So tear the pages
From this castaway story"
Spilling tears fill her lachrymatory

"She seeks to pierce the veil
Melancholia speaks the fiercest tale
Weeks are growing lonelier
Ever stonier regaled"
Love's bond responding beyond the pale

The planchette is promissory
Purveyance of this séance
In obeisance to the spirits
Before their dismissory

The Crown discounts our loss
Life cannot count the cost
These numbers fount like water
The dead, the dying, those on route to slaughter

Valentine sweet spine entwined
I am sorry that I left you here, in time
I will find, the path back from the other side
So please accept my kisses
through the whispers of the ouija board

I suffer alone
So far from home
Watching you from a distance
A shadow's persistence to roam

No time to atone
You flower alone
Beautifully graven
You cut a black raven
Whose tower has flown

"No memento mori
For he passed away
For faraway glory
So tear the pages
From this castaway story"
Spilling tears fill her lachrymatory

"She seeks to pierce the veil
Melancholia speaks the fiercest tale
Weeks are growing lonelier
Ever stonier regaled"
Love's bond responding beyond the pale

The planchette is promissory
Purveyance of this séance
In obeisance to the spirits
Ghosts that haunt amiss, amie

Winter seems far colder
Without you by my shoulder now this year

Faith's blinding glare advanced to frost
Finds her there, entranced to cross
To breach death's porous border
And reach where breath affords no quarter

Helpless, I see her resolve harden
This is where it ends
How the wretchedness portends
The knife in her hand
On the stretch to the promised land

And this is how they found my light
Clutching tight that fateful telegram