The Fall of Rowan

    They came like the tide of a silver sea,
    Endless and tireless, relentless and flowing,
    The silver-horned foe of Elwen enmity,
    And before them the light retreated, going

    Into hidden places, to mourn and to weep,
    For that day of shattered song, of tolling bell,
    That saw something great condemned to sleep,
    The day that proud old Rowan fell.

    The silver unicorns came under a flag of peace,
    The silver flag that all Elwens honor gave.
    They said that the Eya Sonora must cease,
    And the Elwens could still their honor save

    By listening to their terms, if not agreeing.
    The guards agreed, for strong they were, and fell.
    They could not see their own doom, for seeing
    Would be to know the day that old Rowan fell.

    The unicorns gazed into eyes of blue and gold,
    Into eyes of stars like the sky of light,
    Into eyes where the Elwen spirit burned of old.
    And over it all brought their hateful night.

    The guards opened the gates; in the unicorns
    Ran to conquer the city that suddenly a hell
    Became, for the Elwens the touch of alicorns
    Knew, the day that Rowan fell.

    From street to street they ran like streams,
    From the School to the Council, both young and old
    Taking with them into unending dark dreams.
    They looked into eyes as fire gold.

    Some fought; some looked on doom and laughed,
    And others wielded swords that rang like bells.
    But the unicorns killed them, and in aftermath
    Wove their first songs of the day Rowan fell.

    Rainsong Deerfriend, as tales say,
    Was one of those who lifted high their swords.
    He stood at the gates of the Council that day,
    And turned for a long time the tide of would-be lords.

    But Rainsong, as a hero, could not endure forever,
    As all the old tales, listened to, tell.
    His sword turned, and in loss he chose to sever
    The bonds of his heart, the day that Rowan fell.

    Silver eyes and blue, golden eyes and red,
    Bloomed in love for their masters new.
    They left to rejoice among their own dead,
    And march behind unicorns under a sky so blue

    That it seemed wrong, for the sun to shine,
    That it seemed wrong for the world's bell
    To cease tolling for Rowan, for something fine
    Passed out of the world when Rowan fell.