A Poem for Muninn


                                            I am Muninn, the cursed wayfarer,

                                            Afflicted with a fate most malign.

                                            My destiny is gripped with terror,

                                            A trail of death that lingers behind.


                                            A solemn plague shadows my presence,

                                            A true misfortune that won't depart.

                                            Within me lies a powerful essence,

                                            A darkness that would corrode a weak heart.


                                            Death is my element, it always has been,

                                            Ruination befalls all beside me.

                                            Crops, ponies, even the smallest puffin,

                                            None were immune to my catastrophe.


                                            By my simple presence, life was always drained

                                            Wherever I went, death seemed sure to follow.

                                            Sickness, disaster, our whole village was pained,

                                            All this tragedy left my spirits hollow.


                                            My people's hope could not be extinguished,

                                            That perhaps I could be rid of my bane,

                                            But deep within I knew spirits languished

                                            With every passing moment I remained.


                                            Recalcitrant winds betrayed my hope within,

                                            Optimism buried far beneath the ice,

                                            Though I had nothing but love for all my kin

                                            I knew that their hopes alone would not suffice.


                                            The natural course of life must end in death,

                                            As such I hold no fear of my final day,

                                            But playing a part in another's last breath

                                            Was a pain too great that sent me on my way.


                                            Nivalis, my home, I had left long ago

                                            In search of answers and a possible cure.

                                            I sought a sagacious mare beyond the snow

                                            Who possessed the knowledge to render me pure.


                                            For much of this time, I ventured alone

                                            Lest another suffer from my ill fate,

                                            Then to my surprise in an unknown zone

                                            Were beings of a most remarkable trait.


                                            I roamed among the alnus rubra

                                            In search of nourishment and shelter,

                                            When a piercing cry struck the tundra,

                                            An avian resembling cinder.


                                            Corvus corax, my lone consolation,

                                            The only beings immune to my blight,

                                            They follow me without trepidation,

                                            Alert and astute through many long nights.


                                            We are a group of lonely silhouettes,

                                            Traveling under crepuscular skies.

                                            Under constant motion after sunset,

                                            And hidden and resting before sunrise.


                                            I endeavor to reach this fabled mare

                                            And allow the dead to earn eternal rest,

                                            For departed spirits still roam the air,

                                            Bound to me until I complete my quest.


                                            Against the unknown we travel without pause,

                                            I will proceed onward, my conviction stern.

                                            No ordeal will prevent achieving my cause,

                                            My dear home, Nivalis, I swear to return.