Poliphilos

Waves crash on these foreign shores,
I push open the metal doors
Their hall reeks of fear and blood in the air.
Outside the petals fall like my yesterday.

A thing with no name hungers in the gloom.
They call him evil, king's son, he is their doom
His steps shake the beams, cause the petals fall,
and with them, their dreams of yesterday.

Before this they called him a villain
They carved his name in bone.
But the night knew different, he fought the dark,
but the dark was a mirror: it broke his heart.

After this they’ll call him a zero
They'll sing his song in church
But the night knew better,
He fought the dark, but the dark was a mirror,
and it fell apart……..
And with them, his dreams of yesterday.

The hall is silent now, only embers glow,
His breath steams where the petals blow.
I press my palm where the wound weeps 
His heart is so slow but his eyes are deep.

He whispers the names of the men he slew,
Not for gold, but the weight of a fool.
His claws were the blades that faded lives,
And with them, his dreams of yesterday.

After this they’ll call me a hero
They carve my name in stone.
But the Night knows different,
I fight the dark,
but the dark is a mirror: 
it broke my heart.

After this they’ll call me a hero
They'll sing my song in church.
But the day knows different,
I shun the light,
but the dark is a mirror,
consumes my heart
And with it
my dreams of yesterday.

It's either you or them, my friend
both leave bones in the end.
I push where I know it hurts again 
Then his scales fall, and with them,
his dreams of yesterday.

Now I am no one’s hero,
Only a ghost on shore.
But the ship knows different - 
When I step on board,
And the sea is a mirror,
And the raindrops fall.
And with them,
My dreams of tomorrow.

About

A knight is summoned to a kingdom, where he encounters a monster—only to discover it is his old friend, now cursed. After the kill the people sing the hero’s song until they, too, forget.

Credits

Written by Harri Alatalo

Produced by Juho Isomäki