Poetry by: Xedra


{The Final Ceremony} {Let Me Come With You} {Home} {No Choice}
{Pity the Destroyer} {Gabrielle's Lament} {Joxer's Heart}{My Gabrielle}
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The Final Ceremony

Strike the flint and light the torches,
Hold them high against the sky.
Feel the darkness press upon you,
Hear the Moon's persistent cry.

Hear Her crying as the wind blows,
Taste Her tears inside the smoke,
Feel Her sorrow in the drumbeats,
See Her heart as an arrow broke.

Behold! Her child cold and shrouded,
Carried thru fire and wind and rain,
Carried by her mourning sisters
To the funeral pyre's flame.

We keep with us the warrior's fierceness,
We keep with us the mother's pride,
We keep with us the sister's friendship,
We send the ashes with the tide.

Cry your tears into the darkness,
Sing your love into the night,
Dance your grief into the shadows,
Until your heavy heart is light.

Our sister is riding Home tonight.

{Let Me Come With You}{Home} {Pity the Destroyer} {Gabrielle's Lament}
{Joxer's Heart}{My Gabrielle} {No Choice}{ Top of Page }

 

LET ME COME WITH YOU

Let me come with you.
Don't you understand?
There's so much you can teach me,
so much to learn at your hand.
I can't be what they want,
I don't fit into their plan.
I want to have adventures,
travel across the land.

Let me come with you.
Please, can't you see?
You're my only chance.
I just have to break free!
I can tell that you need me,
there's something in your eyes.
A fear behind that stony glare
that from me you can't hide.

Let me come with you.
Will you let me be your friend?
I want to share with you the dangers
waiting just around the bend.
Help you overcome the pain
that burns inside of you.
I can tell that deep down inside
you know you want me to.

Let me come with you.
Don't send me away.
We can learn from each other,
become stronger each day.
We'd be good for each other,
like sunshine for a flower's growth.
If we take this chance
it'll mean a new life for us both.

Please, let me come with you.

{The Final Ceremony}{Home} {Pity the Destroyer} {Gabrielle's Lament}
{Joxer's Heart}{My Gabrielle} {No Choice}{ Top of Page }

Home

My idea of Home has changed many times.
First it was Potedeia,
and Mother and Father and Lila.
A place where I lived and worked and dreamed.
I was a daughter, a sister, a friend.
I was even betrothed!
I felt loved, but also sheltered, hampered, reigned in.
Then I met a wonderful Warrior Princess.
I followed her on her travels.
Then Home became the Road,
with campfires and cooking and sleeping under the stars.
I was a friend, a companion, a fighter for good.
I was even Amazon Princess!
I felt free, needed and useful, but yearned for something more.
Something higher than myself.
Enlightenment.
My Quest took me all over the Known World,
learning many different teachings, meeting many different gods.
The Jinn voices, the Yoga, the Mendhi, the Path of Love.
I've even been to Hell (and Heaven) and back!
What is Home to me now?
Throughout these adventures and along this journey
one thing has remained the same, one thing is constant:
My friend, my confidant, my soulmate.
"Sometimes people think Home is a place. It can be a person."
Xena is that person.
Wherever we go, whatever we do, whatever happens,
When I'm with Xena, I'm Home.

{The Final Ceremony}{Let Me Come With You} {Pity the Destroyer} {Gabrielle's Lament}
{Joxer's Heart}{My Gabrielle} {No Choice}{ Top of Page}

No Choice



Who is this child?
Somewhere there must be
A shred of compassion,
A reflection of me.
The short time I held her
My love for her grew.
To protect her from slaughter,
Only one thing to do.
Given up to the gods,
They determined your fate.
I found you much later,
But it was too late.
Your hatred was boundless,
You killed without fear.
There was no other choice,
The next step was clear.
Farewell again,
There's nothing to do
But pray that the gods
Show mercy to you.
An Evil has brought you
Again to this world.
I watch, unbelieving,
As your fury's unfurled.
Bringing destruction
And death in your wake.
I had to think quickly,
A friend's life was at stake.
To a fiery death
We both must descend.
And, once and for all,
Let this be her end.

{The Final Ceremony}{Let Me Come With You}{Home} {Pity the Destroyer} {Gabrielle's Lament}
{Joxer's Heart}{My Gabrielle} { Top of Page}

Pity the Destroyer

I wrote this poem after watching "A Family Affair" the second time, and
crying at the end a second time.

 

Born of War and Evil, is a creature like no other.
The Destroyer, fierce and bloody, who craves the love of his mother.
reaching out with spike-covered arms, he yearns for her embrace.
But she quickly turns away, a frown of scorn upon her face.
A moan of deepest anguish, as he shrinks from her disgust,
Fills the cold and lonely cave, her treatment so unjust.
He is what she has made him, a creature everyone fears.
But inside he also has a heart, and he cries bitter tears.
His fate could have been far different, had he grown under Gabrielle's care.
A life filled with love and acceptance, instead of hate and despair.
Instead, his life is cut short; and, confused by Gabrielle's face
Unknowingly slays his mother, but they die in a tender embrace.
In the end finally receiving what he's longed for all his life:
His mother's arms around him, and a loving look in her eye.

{The Final Ceremony}{Let Me Come With You}{Home} {Gabrielle's Lament}
{Joxer's Heart}{My Gabrielle} {No Choice}{ Top of Page}

 

 

 

GABRIELLE'S LAMENT

This poem was written to Xena after they parted in "Maternal Instincts"

 

We went our separate ways tonight.
The pyres burned, blazing bright.
These deaths are a tragedy,
and we're both to blame, you and me.
I'll never foget the look I saw
in your blue eyes, the pain so raw.
The sorrow I feel, beyond compare,
to know that I have put it there.
And now we have to separate,
our hearts too full of grief and hate.
Alone now, I smile at the memory
of the way things used to be.
I try not to dwell on the past,
it seems we were not meant to last.
But I cannot get off my mind,
the good times we have left behind.
We travelled together everywhere,
did everything as a pair.
Helping people, you and me,
like it was simply meant to be.
I'd haply listen to you sing
and feel the calm your voice would bring.
I'd tell you tales you'd heard before,
but you would always ask for more.
Our campfire talks on moonlit nights.
Side by side in all those fights.
I feel us growing far apart,
and I know we can't go back to start.
Despite all things, please know I care.
Friends like us are few and rare.
I know I couldn't love you more
than I do right now, or did before.
The fates have planned for you and me
a special kind of destiny.
But it must wait to be fulfilled
until our broken hearts have healed.

{The Final Ceremony}{Let Me Come With You}{Home} {Pity the Destroyer}
{Joxer's Heart}{My Gabrielle} {No Choice}{ Top of Page}

 

 

Joxer's Heart

He grins and stutters, blushes and mutters
whenever she grants him a smile.
He tries very hard to show the fair bard
he can fight in the warrior style.
Then to his disgrace, he falls on his face,
so clumsy it's almost a sin.
But he'll straighten his hat, say "I meant to do that!"
and try to impress her again.
Things both great and small, he's scared of them all;
he cowers when danger is near.
But if harm did befell his dear Gabrielle,
he'll stand proudly and show no fear.
Because a secret part of his generous heart
holds a place full of undying love
For sweet Gabrielle, and we all can tell
it extends to the stars above.

{The Final Ceremony}{Let Me Come With You}{Home} {Pity the Destroyer} {Gabrielle's Lament}
{My Gabrielle} {No Choice}{ Top of Page}

 

My Gabrielle

My heart was dark and cold,
Scarred by hate and revenge,
Drowning in a sea of blood,
Haunted by a thousand fearful faces.
The light I tried to follow
Dimmed in my lonliness.
Rejecting the past, unsure of the future,
I was lost.
Then you came into my life,
Bringing an even brighter light.
Leading me with your innocent faith,
You've showed me the best part of myself,
Understood the dark parts of my soul,
Healing them with your love.
Each day I feel a little more free.
Free of the guilt and shame.
Finally, I'm able to let peace inside.
The peace I find in your trusting smile,
The truth in your gleaming eyes,
The comfort of your warm embrace.
Wherever I may go in this world,
I am home, for I am with you,
My Gabrielle.

{The Final Ceremony}{Let Me Come With You}{Home} {Pity the Destroyer} {Gabrielle's Lament}
{Joxer's Heart} {No Choice}{ Top of Page}