Bad Harvest

I was raised in the years of the harvest

There were fields to the far horizon turning to the sun

I have killed more than I could eat

I live in a house filled with bones

But now the rain doesn't fall

And the wells are running brackish and dry

We stare out across the shrivelling fields

At the pitiless blue of the pitiless sky

Bad harvest is come, we're gathering dust

The scavenger birds are returning

La Muerte parades through the capital streets

Soon they'll be hunting for witches for the burning

I can hear in the far-off distance

The sound of the men making ready to come

I can hear them saddling horses

And the sound of the hounds howling scenting the kill in the air

I can taste fear on my tongue

I can feel fear in my heart

We'll be running and stumbling through the thick dark woods

Through the barren fields through the empty towns

Bad harvest is come and the wars they are lost

Whatever is left will be returning

La Muerte parades through the capital streets

Soon they'll be hunting for witches for the burning

Beneath the towering clouds of rusting red

As the sun bleeds into the horizon

The churches of the new gods are closing their doors

And the hard old gods are vengeance-bent on their returning

The gardens of the ruined towers glow with burning crosses

While the kings are in their counting houses

Counting out their losses

Trust to the stories, my love - it's what they are for

What's happening now has happened before