Poetaster's Share

[Verse 1] In the mountain’s hollow heart Nine nights deep in shadow talk Odin bargained Bled And schemed For a taste of molten thought Three dark vats of burning gold Words that cut through time and stone He leaned close He drank them whole One breath Then the world was gone [Chorus] This is the mead of the middle verse Spilled from the sky in a crooked curse Some of us sip what the gods preserved Some of us live in the overflow Drunk on a laugh from a distant throne Half a line blessed Half a line burned Mead of the middle verse [Verse 2] Feathers torn from cloak and storm He broke open into flight Eagle beating Beak still sweet With the taste of waking minds Giant howled and took the air Talons raked the frozen clouds Below A trembling mortal field Waiting With their empty mouths [Chorus] This is the mead of the middle verse Spilled from the sky in a crooked curse Some of us sip what the gods preserved Some of us live in the overflow Drunk on a laugh from a distant throne Half a line blessed Half a line burned Mead of the middle verse [Bridge] A drop for the farmer who hums off-key A stain for the drunk with a rhyme on his teeth A stream for the madman who talks to the trees Every word crooked Somehow still sings Up in the hall there are vessels of light Clear as dawn on a frost-bit sky Down in the dirt we lift our cups Catch what we can And call it enough [Chorus] This is the mead of the middle verse Spilled from the sky in a crooked curse Some of us sip what the gods preserved Some of us live in the overflow Drunk on a joke from a one-eyed god Trying to rise from this mortal mud Half of us blessed Half of us burned Mead of the middle verse