Four Views of the Vault of the Blackbirds, Part 1[]
The blackbirds linger.
Three sages turn to face
their vaulted haven.
- Tyro Eurydes, #1 from Four Views of the Vault of the Blackbirds
The fox gazes past
the sacred grove, towards the home
of the blackbirds.
- Tyro Eurydes, #2 from Four Views of the Vault of the Blackbirds
Four Views of the Vault of the Blackbirds, Part 2[]
North wind brushes
the giant's face. He watches
distant blackbirds.
- Tyro Eurydes, #3 from Four Views of the Vault of the Blackbirds
A shadow falls
from the southwest. The dark vault
smothers each flapping wing.
- Tyro Eurydes, #4 from Four Views of the Vault of the Blackbirds
Notes on Four Views of the Vault of the Blackbirds[]
What have you done, Tyro? You go and write your masterpiece and then disappear, just like that? Taken by the Ruination like all the lucky saps who were spared the torture of surviving it? Taken before I could even meet you? I don't believe it. I don't believe any of them! You knew, didn't you? That the western vault would be overtake by shadow. That the sacred grove would be petrified in place. But most of all, that the Vault of the Blackbirds is real, that it isn't a myth or a metaphor. That's where you are, aren't you? Safe and sound while I rot away in this prison.
Of course, I can hear them saying: ""Don't you think the vault is just a metaphor? It isn't unlike Tyro to be metaphorical, after all. Clearly the giant in #3 refers to the Vault of the Giants and the fox in #2 refers to the vaults in which the Vastaya worked. Could the ""home"" of the blackbirds be a metaphor as well?"" But that is ridiculous. You include metaphors in your poems, Tyro, but not in the titles! I know, for instance, that your early poem, ""The Sacred Grove Speaks to Me"" is non-metaphorical, that it refers to the home of the guardian spirit of the woods, Maokai. It would be absolutely ludicrous for such an author as consistent as you to break your own conventions but a single time. And for no apparent reason except to confound me in particular!
No, no, I cannot lapse into despair. I will find the Vault of the Blackbirds. I must. These decades of torment cannot and will not be wasted. The only mystery now left is the meaning of the first poem. Who are the wise sages? Is there meaning in the word ""turn""? Looking back, maybe it has something to do with that peculiar statue in Vault of the Giants. It seems to point towards nothing in particular. Perhaps it has some part to play in this mystery? I will get out of here and once I do, I will go to that statue and I will decipher your secrets, my distant friend.
