Templar Rain
Sometimes the only people we can change is ourselves.
“Why dost thou fret?” inquired the knight
Behind his colored shield
“Thy face is long, thy eyes as cold
As this sword that I wield.”
“I’m sad, sir knight.” I then replied
My heart did weigh like stone
“I fear I’m lost, can’t find my way
I feel so all alone”
He pondered this as he sat down
Beside me in the wood
Inside a star-born circle
That assured me he was good
His eyes met mine, his steely gaze
I never will forget
His armor rattled as he spoke:
“What hast thou to regret?”
“Thou dwellest in thy folly
And I see thou art no cowan
Why then hast thou brought me here
On this the day of Samhain?”
“I know not where to turn m’ Lord”
My eyes shot to the ground
“I am as lost as any soul
That ever can be found”
His eyes took pity on me then
And though on foreign land
He took the time to wipe my tears
Upon his armored hand
“Weepest not, young lad of mine”
He managed with a smile
“Thou has more heart and courage
Then I have seen in awhile”
“I wish that I were strong and brave
A noble man like thee!”
He looked at me in disbelief
“I know not what ye mean”
“You have charged into battle
Faced the axe, the sword and spear
Fought the Mameluk and Saracen
And never did show fear!”
He grabbed his beard with one hand
As he struck me with the other
I stared at him is disbelief
I thought he was my brother!
I shrieked “Why did you do that man?
Have you no honor left?”
He then proceeded to explain:
“Thou didst this to thyself”
“Think ye I a noble man?
I never had a wife
The only thing I ever did
Was take of human life”
“I never had a family
Could never plant my seed
I do not own a shilling, boy
I cannot even read!”
“I’ve marched to take the Holy Land
With brothers and my kin
And cooked inside the ovens
Trapped inside this metal skin”
“I heard the screams of dying men
No treasure did I hoard
As Muslim, Jew, and Christian were
All put unto the sword”
“They were strange times my friend” he said
“When blood flowed like a fountain
We even had an ally with
The Old Man of the Mountain”
“So when the slaughter ended
And the blood could fill a moat
We won ourselves a piece of wood
So worthless to The Goat”
“The rest the world may never know
The purpose we did fight
There was a reason that we met
In secret and at night”
“I never knew such suffering
I never felt such dread
I never saw such misery
I could not count the dead”
At this he paused in silence
When he finally did say:
“I do not understand the tears
You weep for me today”
“At least you had a purpose
Or at least you had a cause”
I tried to justify myself
And this did give him pause
“I did what I was told to do
I killed and that was all
And so it came to be one day
It was my turn to fall”
“And so this life thou speakest of
With glory, fame and such
Is unknown unto me boy
Does not impress me much”
“If thou had seen the children and
If thou could feel their pain
If thou could hear their mothers weep
Thou would have then known shame”
“But thou art full of vigor
With the youth I never had
Thou hast known a woman” grinned
Then said: “Thou should be glad!”
“I have no meaning to my life!”
I could not choke the lie
He laughed and said he never had
Such freedom ‘til he died
“Can thou not see” he said to me
“The beauty that is life?
Thy flesh will never taste the pain
Of arrow or of knife”
“Will never know of desert winds
Will never know such thirst
Will never know of hunger and
Can never be so cursed”
“Will never be so tortured and
To live so without hope
And never really be betrayed
By either king or pope”
I saw the truth behind his words
As it began to rain
I never will be brought to trial
Or feel the kiss of flame
He stared at me in silence
For eternity it seemed
And then began to realize
The wisdom I had gleaned
He stood at last to bid farewell
He waved with his mailed fist
And disappeared before my eyes
Gone like the morning mist
I closed the circle with a smile
No longer feeling shame
And thanked the Season of the Witch
For bringing Templar Rain
About the Creator
Logan Solo
Life is a mirror and poetry is my reflection.
Comments (1)
Fantastic!!