The XJ Project

Poetry: Rubaiyat

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 08:50:48 GMT

I had no choice to cut you loose
I couldn't take much more abuse
but know that I did not intend
to break our fagile, silent truce.

It was too hard to pretend
that you're nothing but a friend
with every sad quixotic stare
and mixed signals we both send.

still I cannot help but care
of all the words we used to share
but I had to close the door
because of moments we can't repair.

But I've said this all before
through loaded eyes and metaphores;
did you think they were all lies
or did you see there was something more?

Poetry: freeform

Fri, 07 Jul 2006 20:54:07 GMT

I wish I could forget
your whiskey lies
and the truths that linger
behind it all,
but words are like daggers

and the battle rages on.

You use our friendship
as a sheild
and every blow weakens it,
Tattered and torn
it falls apart

and the battle rages on.

and still I fight
though I know I'll lose;
you've got the upper ground
on that pedestal
I made for you

and the battle rages on.

But I'll hold you now
to stop the bleading:
apply preasure to my wounds
though ever kiss
is a proken promise

and the battle rages on

poetry: free verse

Fri, 27 Jan 2006 08:46:46 GMT

I stand alone
overlooking the
Earth you tread
waiting to hold you
with weathered arms
and shield you
with leathery wings

Come to me
and I will comfort you
with a stone embrace
and mend your soul
with the fabric of my own
in hopes you will gain
what I'll never have

when the patchwork is done
I'll fade away
into the darkness
to my stonework perch
to be forgotten
and alone once more

character development

Fri, 20 Jan 2006 20:02:31 GMT

The sun set behind Shen Zheng on the Tibetan steppes and made his visage a silhouette peering above the rocky terrain. He seemed at piece with his surrounding even though his slow, methodical breath came out as vapors being pulled by a harsh wind. Meditations do that to a man.

His eyes opened as the sun cast it’s final light and he stood shakily on legs that had not been used for what seemed eons. Though naturally quite fit, the lack of sustaining food he’d endured made him a bit uneasy. He wished to stay here a little longer, just a moment more, but the time had come to leave. This place was no longer his home, and he was drawn to follow the sun.

Black eyes glanced westward, and he shivered. How long had he been here? Days, weeks… perhaps it had been an eternity.

Time was of little importance anyway. But then, he knew there was little time left.

He marched upward; even though his entire carnal instinct told him to head East, down the cliffs, his spirit said that the West held much more important things than the easy path. That was a lesson he knew too well, and was reminded of too often.

Again I walk the middle road, guided by an ever-changing fate.

Poetry: Free Form

Wed, 09 Nov 2005 20:21:51 GMT

I cut myself
So that I would bleed,
To leak out
A precious life

Your eyes
Are temples
Where unwanted
Sacrifices were made,
And still I call out
In your name

Your kiss is poison
A serpentine tongue
And a venomous bite,
Passion to pain
And to slowly
Wither away.

So I cut myself:
One final sacrifice
To empty you
From my veins

poetry: Freeform

Mon, 31 Oct 2005 18:54:57 GMT

A very rough draft, but needs to be written before I give my soul to NaNoWriMo

My heart was so full
it had to erupt
to leak out feelings
long since hidden
desires not met

My heart was so heavy
it collapsed into itself
blocking out everything
and yet swallowing all around it,
from pain to want
now it rests
a black hole
left by you.

poetry: free form

Thu, 21 Jul 2005 05:48:12 GMT

I want my skin
To crack
To peal back
To melt away
To expose charred flesh

I want you to touch me
With branding lips
A searing kiss
Which leaves your mark
Upon my boiling body
Until it fades
To ash and bone

I would let you
Destroy me
Knowing you would also
Save me

Poetry: free form

Wed, 29 Jun 2005 17:06:48 GMT

It almost drowned
Your child heart
It didn’t know how to swim
So you nurtured it
Coddled it
Shielded it
From potential enemies

You built up walls
Sheltered it
Kept the elements out

It stayed isolated
Your child heart
Free from the pain
Of murderers
And tyrants
But in hiding
It stayed the same
Never learning
To grow

Poetry: free form

Tue, 28 Jun 2005 09:17:45 GMT

My skin prickles
And goose bumps rise
From pale skin
A sweet caress
Touching my bare chest

My hair pulls back
Against the grain
Awkward yet gentle
And seemingly endless
Stirring my senses

Then came the stillness;
It was the wind
And nothing more

Poetry: free-form

Sat, 25 Jun 2005 05:37:31 GMT

I had a dream
That burned my soul
And chilled my spine,
Icicles
In the summer breeze

I had a dream
So beautifully nightmarish
Surreal and depictive
From a burning kiss
To burning eyes

I watched the world slip by me
And time stood still
For hours
Nothing but my senses
And a wayward soul
Passively touching
In a night of candle lit
Desire

I had a dream
So sensual
It left me numb
Like black velvet
Along pale skin
So soft it could not be felt

Brush against the intangible
Close your eyes
And sleep.

Poetry: Sestina

Fri, 17 Jun 2005 04:17:23 GMT

I saw you alone
And you asked me to stay
But not to change,
To be this way forever
Only by
Keeping my heart still

To be still
Means being alone
Letting time go by
And to stay
Just friends forever,
Ignoring feelings that change

I cannot change
For fear you still
Would want forever
To be alone;
You would not stay
And you’d pass me by

The wind blows by
Bringing in change
Yet here I stay
Standing still
And alone
Forever

I’ve seen forever
And I let it go by
I didn’t want to be alone
In this time of change
But still
You asked me to stay

I wish I could stay
Just friends forever
But time never stands still
And as the days drift by
I’m haunted by change,
The feeling I’m alone

Can you stay here forever
Or will you still be alone
When change comes by?

Poetry: haiku

Sun, 12 Jun 2005 08:09:41 GMT

I have worshiped gods
gazing into the temple
of your sacred eyes

Fantasy: LCoA

Thu, 26 May 2005 23:11:39 GMT

Sorry to drift from the Chronicles of Xjere, but I figured this would be useful

In the beginning there were 9 Gods. Each were bestowed upon them their own power. They created the angels to do their bidding in their plane of existence, known to Aerstead as Heaven.

One day, the Gods decided to use their powers. Thesime, the Goddess of love, and Torun, the God of hate, created the waters. Leva, The Goddess of Order, and Doril the God of chaos created the air, and with it, the flow of wind. Sila, The Goddess of Life, and Horos, The God of death created the land of Aersted. With it came the trees and grass, and all the lesser creatures of the world were born. Sanda, the Goddess of intuition, and Malo, The God of Soul, created the fires of the world.

Then Demos Reached down, and touched the rich soil, and the deserts were formed. That is when the Gods found the power of Demos, which was to taint.

The Gods looked down and realized they needed something to cultivate the soil. Sila and Horos Reached down and molded bodies from the trees. Leva and Doril created the mind with the stillness of the air and the power of the wind. Thesime and Torun created emotion that flowed through the body like water. Finally Sanda and Malo took the fire and placed it within the body to forge a strong soul, both tempered and burning with spirit. This new form, the Gods called elves, and they tended to the trees, making them flourish and giving them fruit to feed their bodies.

Again, Demos reached down, and touched some of the elves. His power of taint darkened their skin, and their souls. They became the dark elves and wandered to the sands of Aerstead to live in their creator's taint.

The 8 Gods saw this and realized they'd need protectors against these new creations. Sila and Horos formed bodies from the mountains. Leva and Doril gave the creations a mind, Thesime and Torun bestowed upon them emotion, and Sanda and Malo gave soul to the new beings. These new creatures they called dwarves, and they protected the lands with great strength and forged weapons.
Demos looked down upon these creatures, and reached down. With taint in a selection of dwarves, they became green and hungry for bloodshed. Their strength became useful only to destroy, and the Orcs of the land were born.

The 8 Gods looked down on this and saw a world in war with no advantage to either side. For the war to end, new tools would need to be made. Sila and Horos pulled from the hills and made new forms. Leva and Doril made strong minds that would be able to grow strong and invent. Thesime and Torum gave these creatures emotion, and Sanda and Malo forged souls for inspiration and creativity to guide these new creatures' inventions. They were known as the gnomish people, and were cousins of the dwarves.

Demos saw these new creatures, and wished for some of his own. He reached down and grasped some in his fist, making them his own with his taint. They were cousins to the orcs as the gnomes were to the dwarves. They were known as goblins and created destructive machines to aid the tainted in the war.

The 8 Gods saw Demos' jealousy rising, and saw his want for power growing strong. They feared Demos would rage war on them and they grew tired with all the creation they had made.

The 8 Gods faced Demos, and began war within the heavens. Angels came to call and battles were made on the holiest of grounds. The lands became torn with scars that would not heal. Angels fell from the heavens and the Gods became wearier.

The angels fell down to Aersted like shooting stars in the darkness of the night. As they touched the world, they became new life and bodies. They became the first of the newer races, and they became chaos in the world. They were neither tainted nor created with purpose. They were called humans, and had none of the strengths of the other races, but were also not bound to their purpose on the world.

The Gods became desperate and looked out upon the heavens. Most was tattered by the taint of Demos, and the God of taint became deformed with power. His angels reflected his own visage, and became the demons.

The Gods saw no hope for redemption in the 9th God Demos, and saw little used of a tattered heaven. With strength that only Gods could have, they ripped the heavens in two; the lands still untouched became heaven, and the tainted lands fell away and created Hell.

The Gods looked down and saw these new children, and knew that they needed guidance, for even though Demos could no longer touch the lands and corrupt the creatures directly, the humans' lack of purpose could easily be used against them by Demos' indirect influence. So the Gods created the last of the races, the Kitare, whose purpose was to guide the humans and be as free of will as the new race.

And so Aerstead was created in full, a lost continent in the eye of the maelstrom.

Fantasy: Lost Continent of Aerstead

Thu, 26 May 2005 19:13:52 GMT

Xjere sat silently on the cliffs of forever, the only light coming from the full moon and the piercing light of the lighthouse looming above him. A single white rose lay next to him, shadows turning it gray like the hair at his temples. He was now an old man finally starting to show his age.

He watched the ocean, and the mists beyond. There was so much beyond those clouds that touched the waters, and so much he’d left behind. It was more than just mist though, and Xjere knew firsthand that it was just a passageway. It was the astral, and this Continent of Aersted was locked within it, hidden yet connected to everything.

He turned his head slowly, as a shadow blocked out the moon. A young man stood watching Xjere, his eyes a bright blue, and his hair a sleek black with hints of silver. If not for the black long coat the man wore, Xjere would’ve assumed him to be Elven-kind. Xjere knew better though.

Xjere’s voice sounded tired yet firm as he spoke, “I knew you would show… someone always does. I didn’t expect however a Kin of Tal’Shiren and ‘child of the mother’ to be here tonight.”

The young man kept his eyes low, as if trying to see over the edge of the cliffs without creeping up to the ledge, “I am Kin’Juen, protector and monk of Tal’Shiren. I claim no heritage to the mother, and our founder. It seems everyone else does though.”

A smirk peeled across Xjere’s face and his eyes lit up, small specks of red flaring in otherwise hazel eyes like flames lapping at cold wood, “You deny who you are. I was once like you, child.”

The young Kin couldn’t help but chuckle, “You seem far too human to be the legend everyone claims you to be.”

“And I suppose you came here to meet that legend,” Xjere grumbled, even with his harsh tones it was still calming, “Then gaze into my eyes, and see into my soul, and I will show you the man behind the legend.”

Kin’Juen looked up for the first time since he’d arrived, and caught the eyes of a legend.

Poetry: Villanelle

Mon, 16 May 2005 17:11:30 GMT

This moment leaves me with a hole
Which I now know where it lies:
Within my silent, empty soul

I seem to have lost control
And it's cause I can only surmise,
This moment leaves me with a hole

I want that piece of me you stole
(When I looked into your eyes)
Within my silent, empty soul

Only you could make me whole
And when you leave black thoughts arise:
"This moment leaves me with a hole"

And still I try and console
That emotion that always cries
Within my silent, empty soul

Whenever we say our goodbyes
something more between us dies
This moment leaves me with a hole
Within my silent, empty soul

Poetry: Sestina

Mon, 16 May 2005 17:08:03 GMT

I sit down to watch the dying flames
Turned to nothing more than cold embers
Lost to time and almost forgotten
And all I see within the heat
Are distant and dwindling memories,
Silent thoughts that begin to stir

As the ashes began to stir
Like a dark cloud on the falling flames
It was futile to hold memories
Fading away in darkened embers
And in the disappearing Heat
All was close to being forgotten

As all hope had been forgotten
The coals began to relight and stir
Bringing back a bewildering Heat
And with it came an array of flames,
Tendrils rising from ancient embers
Old thoughts to spark new memories

I dwell among these new memories
The older long since been forgotten
Though they all came from the same embers
And again my soul began to stir
To watch the wild display of flames,
To feel the emotion within the heat

I wonder why I cling to the heat
If I never gain new memories
To always dwell on the same old flames;
I had needlessly forgotten
The feelings that begin to stir
When I breathe life into old embers

I let the fire die down to embers,
Let the air dissipate the heat
While shivers from the cold start to stir
And I knew that soon the memories
Would fade away and be forgotten
With the slowly disappearing flames

I begin to stir the cold embers
To spark the flames and regain heat
Of new memories to be forgotten

Poetry: Free Form

Mon, 16 May 2005 17:05:33 GMT

Figured I would start out with some of my older works, just so that I have everything in the same place.

Chained to the floor
By my own limitations
Alone and secluded
Can’t move
Can’t walk around
Stranded in a wasteland
As long as I’m trapped

I have to escape
Break the chains
Undo the lock
Run to freedom

I make my escape
Enter the world
The light is bright
And hot
No time
No law
No dimension
Only the bright sun
Looming overhead

The star of freedom
Burns at me
The heat scorching
My soul

I walk back
To the darkness
To the wall
That’s all too familiar
Close the chains
Close my eyes
And bask in the security
Of my limitations