The Long Sleep: A Trilogy of Time

By Christian J. Farber

Return to Sender 1

I wrote a long letter

On blank pages in my hymnal—

I think it reads better

Then Samson’s old riddle.

About lions and bees,

And the lust for honey—

The Book of Judges,

On pages left smudgy.

It says I still love you,

Whoever you are.

But where do I send it—

How near, or how far?

Honeycombs nestled in the lion’s ribs—

Best tasted softly, with plenty of bibs.

The riddle went unanswered at the dinner—

No robes were awarded—no saint, no sinner.

A kiss, a stamp, and off it goes,

To someone unknown, holding a rose—

The Long Sleep: A Trilogy of Time

Or a heart in need of thawing,

Just to feel its slow beat calling.

The strong man killed lions,

Our Old Testament explains,

With only his hands,

To feast with the faithful—

A fate love demands.

But I, the lover,

Just try to find

A heart for my heart,

Forever confined.

And I’m watching closely—

Too numb to truly see…

You just have to know me—

To be.

My hope,

My answer,

My heart.

The Long Sleep: A Trilogy of Time

Paper and Quill 2

The letter arrived back in my hand,

Alone in a shadow too silent to see.

I rewrote the pain I could barely withstand—

Let it stand as the mark of what became me.

Samson had the strength of a hundred men,

Who wondered where his power lay hidden.

It slept in his hair—in Delilah’s den,

Where betrayal and love were softly bidden.

The words poured out through an ancient quill,

At first unsure, then steady and shrill—

Pages of lore, love lost yet burning,

More love, more ache, more loss returning.

To the heart that dares to feel the pain,

It’s easy to sign up again and again—

More ache, more love, more sorrow to feign,

For those who have touched, tasted, and remained.

Delilah sheared his strength with care,

Whispered goodbye and left him bare.

The man of men fell from the rocks,

The Long Sleep: A Trilogy of Time

His crown in pieces, his faith unlocked.

And I remained, still waiting to see

If the man in me could finally be—

Brave enough not to break or falter,

But walk alone to truth’s own altar.

The Long Sleep: A Trilogy of Time

From Angels to Sirens 3

The hymnals’ blank pages were crowded

With words Angels and Sirens could sing.

The songs of the Christians were shrouded,

But rarely motivated anyone to bring

The book up within eyesight to follow the song,

Like a riddle to read and chew on for long

After it’s over and there is time to think

About the true meanings to connect the links.

Delilah killed the most lethal of men;

Samson’s haircut is what did him in.

The bees left the carcass and honey expired;

The lion’s soul left with little desire.

And I filled my heart with some regret,

Having not found its partner to be with just yet.

Love is so painful and hard to forget,

Yet we keep longing for more than a bet

On a riddle that someone might ask,

With an unknown answer to cast—

A spell on our heart that can’t break us apart

By losing our hair for a fresh start.

The Long Sleep: A Trilogy of Time

The beginning of new words and singing from hymns

Will comfort our feelings that brim to the rim.

Low when we need it, but higher than most,

Will ensure we’ll never succumb to all of our ghosts.

By Christian J. Farber