The Bones of Ymir

The grizzled hunter was my first
Flesh from yellow bones was flayed
That grim repast did slake my thirst
But only for a day

I slunk out at nights just like a wraith
And fell upon the camps
Through the power of their prayers and faith
Their fat did light my lamps

I’m falling farther down the shaft
I know I’m never coming back
I slipped into darkness and laughed
Still farther, farther down the shaft

Their bones discarded down a pit
This hunter sought no trophies
I wallowed in my filth and shit
Rags and gasoline

Voices called up from the depths;
Ghosts desperate for revenge
They chilled my blood and seized my breath
As the cave filled up with their cold stench

They were calling up from down the shaft
Skulking corpses first and last
Their skin was flayed, skulls were smashed
Climbing up from down the shaft

I grabbed some clothes from my last meal
And escaped down a crawlway
What I thought were angry spirits
Was just a posse out to slay me

I heard them break into my den
They were overcome completely
Their loved ones’ meat and heads and feet
Were stacked or hanging neatly

Now I’m crawling farther down the shaft
There isn’t any turning back
I stop to drop a burning match
Before I’m swallowed by the black