Ash and alabaster Buried century No headstones to describe The silence beneath Wastes bled white Unbroken miles shriek Grim winds standing guard For what fools would unleash Dread swords in slumber Forged from hate and aggression Armaments of cold disdain Woe awaits Devastation Deferred but unrelenting Though we stand at December's end The winter rages on Our frozen fears are never far Until the ice has come to thaw Patient pestilence aplenty Persisting under the ice Hidden from sight and mind, they linger 'Til the worms shall have their turn All walls shall crack From frost and thaw The plans of man Castles of straw How many grim relics remain? Endowments of infirmity The legacy of bloodless feuds From forestalled enmity to total ruin Permafrost to slush The glaciers weep Dead oceans stretch their fingers All borders erased When warmer winters rage And shielding snows subside The flotsam on the rising seas Shall bear an ill tide Dread swords in slumber Forged from hate and aggression Armaments of cold disdain Woe awaits Devastation Deferred but unrelenting Though we stand at December's end The winter rages on Our frozen fears are never far Until the ice has come to thaw