TRUTH

TRUTH, by by Aidan Redwing

I taste the words
like blood in my mouth
because no one I love is safe
and you don’t deserve peace.

I feel the anger in my veins
as a I stare at my hands,
trembling at the thought
that the hands of a bard should carry a blade.
But, you have made a warrior of a poet
and if my ink is to be stricken from the page
then I shall write history
in the blood of the slain.

Compassion cannot help but fail
when kindness is taken for weakness
and you have stripped me of all but my rage.

This blade I carry,
this burden you have forced upon me,
bares but one name.

It is Truth
and I have spoken.

________________________________________

Aidan Redwing can be found telling tales of elves, pirates and other fantastical beings to any willing to lend an ear. They are happily Canadian, and acknowledge that they live on the traditional territory of the Mi’kmaq. When not telling stories, they can be found having their own adventures at LARP or around the TTRPG table with friends. Ravens can reach them at a.redwing.writing@gmail.com or you can find them on Facebook and join the crew! Their most recent works include The King’s Blade  (heroic Fantasy Quarterly) and A Murder of Elves (Emerge 2025, Tidewater Press)