The Romance of Sir Florimund, 2022

Let it rest

as I sleep through the daze

and taller still’s my need

to be fulfilled and free

and woe that ever I did doubt

in my daring stride

(Are you ready now, my dear?

arm yourself, it’s time)

My shield painted red

by besotted conclusion

told over to me

do my worst, do my best

I sure put myself to the test

(My lord, Will I suffice?

Oh, you always did, and always will)

And leap for the faith

to trust in the water

but did I pour it on the stone

to summon this storm?

But my insecurity is a bellicose fool

and he swept me away

but I will save the day

and break out of this cage

~

And so it was that some day

I shouted appeased

“the one who has come

will take their measure at ease”

I saw it too early and soon

so hide now my whereabouts

lest you begotten some scratch

on thy chestplate

And woe that ever I did fear myself

and my heart

for I am as steady and free

as the goshawk

So rise now and fight!

with sword and steel

and scream to your demon

that you don’t give a fistful of ash

for his haughty threats!

I succour the heavenly steed

when irate’s the battlefield

to inflate such big hearts

with bravery

And so it was that this day

I shouted at ease

“I’m the one who has come

and I will take my measure, at ease

and bring immeasurable peace”

Would that I were like you

so shining and well formed

covered for the years

to be unveiled before the dawn

Would that I were like you

so high and nobly born

bereft of all fear

and thereby drawn from the stone

Would that I were like you

so that when I walk

it’d be with angels at my side

heralded by the stride

of a million miles

Yes, I wish to be

a very good knight

raise my hands to the sky

to be respected in spite

of beauty and mercy

with a heart that burns bright

I kneel in the nave

to lend all my sun

but peace without commotion

is so rarely won

And if I ask for your roebuck

I shall have all or none

know that I yearn for devotion

and I won’t reign emotion

So where I plant my lance

healing waters shall flow

and he who begs mercy

shall have it, and know

that his body is sacred

for I shall never stoop low

And the king’s court will burn

to hear new tidings of me

and paint me in poems

to fill quivers by piece

In the forest they shiver

hunting my image

but they’ll catch only a sliver

and do me no damage

I’m the sword between lovers

on the pristine sheets

keeper of glory

for magnanimity

So peace be with you

won’t you come with me

dismount from your horse

and eat from the great granary?

Sit down now

and hear of this

Four are the lions

who guard the son of the king

tell me where do you bow down

in the desolate winds?

Ah, what marvels be seen

by a man who is deemed

blessed and true

like the legend o’ you

You’re the spotless white bull

in the meadow corral

you swim through the poison

to emerge with a crown

And I say to myself

“go on, foolish thing

can you ever be good

as the sons of ban’s kin?”

“Ah wretch, I’m done

I am sullied and wrong

how can I go on

when discord has won”

But from the sky to my feet

secrets fall easily

and the marvels be given

for they can never cease

Oh, Galahad

flower of chivalry

and man of the light

may it be that I be

as good as is right

so my heart remains pure

even lost in the plight

And woe isn’t me

for I see what I see

and woe won’t come near

for I’ve banished my fear

Oh, Galahad

the very good knight

and beacon of might

may it be that I be

as good as is right

so my mistakes are cleansed

and cured of all blight

And woe isn’t me

I’ll be healthy and free

and woe won’t come here

for I’ve called you my dear

to come be my lodestar

and light the way clear

Ah, be greeted my friend

it seems we’ve reached the road’s end

a fine one it’s been, and I must pay thee thanks

for the time that you’ve lent

Ah pay no dime, oh it’s fine!

I’ll ride off into time

to be gone among the lines

of the great tapestry lime

Early rose adulation

in yow and in tow

for the cosseted little heart

who wouldn’t ride in the cart

And woven are dreams

threaded ‘mong friend and foe

And as shorn as I was

I ate up the day

and listened to sounds

where good men doth play

Vut woven is life

on the loom of the bellow

and call just a lil louder

popped up on your elbow

Put your hand in the water

over the side of the boat

feeling the leyline

where a thousand flowers are-a float

free of all sense

by neither command nor purpose

carried by winds

and ferried o’ fate-r

Alas it is slow

the good stride of the plow

but there on the waves

there’s a wind from the sea

Stand in its path

and breathe it in deeply

Do you feel now the light

and the stride in your steel?

Do you feel now at ease?

when great flowers grow at your feet

And now I’ll sit here and weep

of good joy in my little keep

see how far we have ridden?

ah, I’ll rest now my feet

And it’s true what they say

that night gives way to day

And it’s true what they say

that no matter how our stories play

our endings rarely square

with our beginnings, ho hay

Sleeping down here in the bower

we’re alone and we are free

our love’s hidden away high in a tower

it’s guarded with good fidelity

And in morning I find myself wishing

that day would turn into night

to sneak into the courtly garden

and beseech a kiss in pale moonlight

(So if fame who speaks his praise

does not lie or deceit

Do I make him my lord and master?)

To have the favor of such a knight

my heart may flatter

now will he be so handsome

noble, and true

that I could hold up the gold

and he would mimic its hue?

Yet I’ve walked through the world

with lion and mead

I drink from the horn

and spit at my feet

I wait now for thee

to come charging on steed

and he who serves a worthy man 

is wicked indeed

if he does not improve in his company

Will the sea now go dry

before I find him?

will the lark now go silent

before I hear him?

I held aloof from love

but it wails now for me

and I know more of this

than the ox does of plowing

Yet I’ve jousted at court

with blade, clad in besagews

so I’m fine on my own

and I don’t feel alone

But I still dream of the man

who would cross the sword bridge for me

and I still dream of the knight

who would kneel down for me

and ask for my hand

And if no man shall do this

then no man shall have me

for I try my best to be

tender and kind

But I won’t have feeble love

and I won’t have half of thee

I yearn for true consummation

of the heart’s soaring desire

I will find him in the shade

underneath the great apple trees

I take this one golden strand from the comb

and I hide it without treachery

to lift this heavy stone slab

and sail across all seas

I’ll call him by true name

and evoke love’s tint

I’ll carve him in my heart now

or carve it in my own

And to have the favor of such a knight

my heart may vision and fantasize

and he will be so handsome

noble and true

that I’ll hold up the gold

and it will mimic his hue