Charge of the Dark Lord
by Mark Hepworth

Here I stand at the cross roads, 
the truth comes for another year that my reign is over.
Once again the cold has peeled back to the attractiveness of warmth.
I have seen my bride, become my daughter.
I have seen my daughter become a maid.
I have seen the maid take the fancy of the buck
And know I am on my way.
I am the father of the cold. I am the trier of men.
I test those that I hold most dear,
to ensure our family survival.
I bring the cold that you must warm against
My shadows ensure the fields are barren.
I show that our best weapon is our mind.
And planning is the way.
I bring together the family. To revel in each others company.
I see young lovers through to Marriage
But at the cross road wonder for myself.
I am the consort of dreams
I am the dark one in who’s arms practitioners sleep.
They curl up in my arms knowing that what I do,
I do for their well being.
My will to test, is what ensures our life.
My ability for cruelty shows me to be
The Opposite of the benevolent king
The King that makes our people work.
Now I take to the background, and await the eventual failure.
I will come again. 
I rest in the cool, in the dark.
For the heat and light blind me.
But I wonder where my consort be,
and if she will favor me again
over the king of the all too brief.
I have become him, I am now the dark lord.