(Note: What follows is technically three free verse poems but, thanks to the magic of the Star Wars universe, I declare it to be an example of the fictional Zabrak linked poetry style. This is not part of official Star Wars lore. I invented it myself…)
Important to know! Written by the Zabrak poet Tarris Verwood of Balmorra roughly two thousand years ago, in the early days of the dark era in history called the Draggulch Period, "Prophecy" was the final poem of her career. Written in the ancient Zabrak style of linked poetry, "Prophecy" is actually a cycle of three sub-poems which could easily stand on their own as separate pieces of literature. The sub-poems of linked poetry are usually given individual titles besides the one unifying title which refers to the entire piece and they made be made up from between three to ten sub-poems. All the sub-poems are linked together either through a unifying theme, as parts of an epic story, or both.
An interesting note about Tarris Verwood, many of her contemporaries believed that she possessed a certain level of clairvoyance. Almost all of her poetry has been linked to events in history that occurred long after her death. She also had strong ties to the mysterious religious sect known as the Paladins of Hoth, spending her vacations traveling to their Houses of Palawa located on many worlds of the Mid and Outer Rims. Of all her works of poetry, "Prophecy" is the most metaphorical and the only piece to never have been linked in any way to the events of history.
Prophecy
—Tarris Verwood the Zabrak of Balmorra
Hope Stolen
Vessel of Light,
a son of suns,
a child
innocent and pure,
the embodiment of hope.
Born into sandy chains
among wretched hives
filled with drifter souls,
peddlers of flesh and vice,
and hunters for hire.
The hope unbound,
freed from despair,
is carried away to
bright, distant lands
by Guardians long lost.
But Darkness,
ruthless and unrelenting,
extends its withered hand
and steals hope away.
Destiny denied.
Hope Corrupted
A stolen child,
once pure and bright,
plunged into deep shadow
is never the same.
Lost and alone,
beaten and broken,
warped and twisted,
innocence and purity
long forgotten.
The child grows,
not into a man,
but into a monster.
Hope long corrupted into despair.
Hope Redeemed
Black heart,
black soul,
twisted mind,
eyes of fire.
Monster in the shape of a man.
In wrath he strikes,
punishes paradise
when pricked by its thorns.
Seeking to bind and bend
a Lady of the Lakes,
he slips over his head,
down a flooded river
without a paddle.
Washed away,
washed clean,
washed far away
and free.
At long last, hope redeemed.
Destiny restored.
Now fulfill it.
