One Rode To Asa Bay

One man rode the way through the woods
Down to Asa Bay
Where dragon ships had sailed to sea
More times than one could say.

To see with own eyes the wonder
People told, from man to man
The God of all almightiness
Had arrived from a foreign land.

The rumors told of a man
Who had come from the other side the seas
Carrying gold cross around neck in chain
And spoke in strange tongue of peace.

He had come with strange men in armor
Dressed in purple shirts and lace
Smelling not of beer but flowers
And with no hair in face.

And the bold man carrying cross
Had told all one of Asa Bay
The God of all man, woman, child had come
To them all save.

And to thank Lord of Heaven
One should build to God a house
And to save one's soul from Hell
One should be baptized and say vows.

A man of pride with the hammer told new God
To build his house on own
And spoke loud of the Gods of their fathers
Not too long time gone.

The rumors said the man with a beard like fire
And the hammer in chain
By men in armor silenced was and by
Their swords was slain.

Those who did not pay the one coin
Of four to man of new God
Whipped was twenty and put in chains then locked
By their neck to the log, to the log.

And so all of Asa Bay did build
A house of the cross
Every hour of daylight they did sweat
Limbs ached because faith does cost.

And on the day two hundred
There it stood white to the sky
The house of the God of the cross
Big enough to take two dragon ships inside.

And all of Asa Bay did watch
The wonder raise to the sky
Now must the God of the cross be pleased
And satisfied.

Just outside the circle of the crowd
One old man did stand
He looked across the waters
And blotted the sun out of his eyes with one hand.

And his old eyes could almost see
The dragon ships set sail
And his old ears could almost hear
Men of great numbers call out Oden's hail.

And though he did know already
Though he turned face towards sky
And whispered silent words forgotten
Spoken only way up high.

Now this house of a foreign God does stand
Now must they leave us alone
Still he heard from somewhere in the woods
Old crow of wisdom say
"People of Asa land, it's only just begun".