Knight Poems.
Because I love knights (not the icky historically accurate ones - see: crusades), because I was raised on knights -
King Arthur's knights (The Dark is Rising Sequence), Dragonlance knights, A Song of Ice and Fire knights, Jedi Knights-
Monty Python's knights. ("You don't frighten us, English pig dogs. Go and boil your bottoms, you sons of a silly person. I blow my nose at you, so-called 'Arthur King,' you and all your silly English Kkk-nig-hts!")
And my knights.
For RPGs:
To Her Knights
Remember then, o child of earth,
Remember then, your noble birth;
Remember too, your mortal chains
The fragile blood within you veins-
Find victory o'er the black desire
That gold and greed seek to inspire.
Remember now, of storm and sea,
Remember now, our history,
The depth of soul that strengthens you
Caresses, molds, and holds you to
This wild Earth, Her heavy wind-
On Mother, every force depends.
Remember now, of tree and sky,
Remember now, the battle cry,
The way it pierces to the bone,
Renews the fear of death unknown-
(Life’s gift given, swift to leave
Wait not to live, and then to grieve.)
Remember, always, star-filled skies
That echo all mine heart-felt cries:
"Sons, when broken is thy noble shield,
When hope undone tempts thee to yield-
Remember then, o child of earth,
Remember then, your noble birth."
Knight
I will not go down by sword or stone
Or monsters from the deep,
I will not go down by wheel of fate
And this, my vow, I’ll keep.
I will not go down by witches’ spells,
Nor sirens’ lures and songs
I will not down on God’s account,
For here my sword belongs.
And though I’m burdened by your crown,
I fight for it alone,
And if it wills me to go down,
I give my flesh and bone.
But remember when the soul is black
And rotten through and through
Then this sword breaks, and with it takes
My soldier’s vow from you.
I will not go down for tyrant’s claw,
Or fight for one untrue,
I will not go down for one who lies-
I make this vow to you.
Remember when the night is cast
And we stand side-by-side,
We are the same with crown and sword
And suffer human pride.
I will go down for honor, Lord,
For truth, I’d give my all
I will go down for you my King –
As brother, I would fall.
An older one, this is – I had a huge thing for William Blake’s ‘Tyger’ for some reason, and it … evolved. This one was written for my friend Dani, and our characters.
Of Dragons and Demons
A complex being
Man rises to be
In his youth –
Untouchable –
With age –
Unreachable.
What fury or love
Lies within his wild spirit?
What cold and warm spells
Mark his character within?
What abyssal or shallow waters
Ride the tides of his choices?
What brand does the world leave
Upon his empty or weighted arms?
And what burden does he carry
Upon his broad or narrow shoulders?
What becomes of him on his journey
From boy to man – or legend?
Men are of
Dragons and Demons,
True –
Angels and knights –
True –
Victories and loss-
No –
Are not what defines
The victor of the fight.
And I have seen them
Dragons as saviors
Demons of honor-
The victors over that
Which tempts them
To what lies beneath.
One Warm Winter's Knight Long Ago
(because my feminist teachers were worried, and because of a warm winter's night, about two years ago.)
The ground was covered in silver-white snow
The maid found herself, too soon, a widow
In the silence of evening,
I found the maid grieving,
One warm winter’s night long ago.
Saw her husband go off to the fight
Vanishing into the night
To stand for a land
And to fight with a band
Full of righteous, and mighty,
And noble heroes.
“But ah, I can’t sit and just grieve,”
Said she,
“For my heart it will find no reprieve
From the cold that surrounds it,
Just now when I’ve found it-
It was tender, love, how could you leave?”
The lady then donned a disguise,
A sword and a soldier’s supplies,
And she rode after him,
And her heart- not a whim-
Was guided by love and by
Unfounded dreams.
She rode to the battle next morn’
And fighting, she found herself worn –
Oh, the blood and the glory,
For her told a story
That didn’t hold wonder as it did for men.
She found him amongst all the slain
And kneeling, she saw love again,
The field was now clear
As the night drew e’er near
And clouds took the sky with a
Promise of snow.
She felt not the cold that night
For Death will give some a new sight.
She felt not the chill,
But instead, a deep will,
To live with the fire she’d kept only for him.
The ground was covered in silver-white snow
A maid found herself, too soon, a widow
In the silence of evening,
I found the maid grieving,
One warm winter’s night long ago.
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