Knight In Black

Ch 4 The Sacrifice

Knight In Black

The sages have spoken, bishops agreed
To death with one, the king has decreed
In the arena, they must face each other
Once comrades in war, brother to brother
Unbeknownst to the knight dressed in white
That his foe is of blood, whom he must fight
He appears a mystery, dressed in black
Concealing his eyes by turning his back
It has been many years they've been apart
From the days they fought with courageous heart
Separated in battle, left for dead
The black knight fallen as his comrades fled
Many years he went waywardly about
The ways of chivalry left in doubt
Feelings of betrayal, consumed with wrath
Wandering distant realms in errant path
Though bitter wounds would heal in their due course
The past can creep on a knight and his horse
Old comrades stumbled upon him one day
Startled in fear and what he might say
Each concerned he may report their cower
They struck up their swords to overpower
But their own blood would spill as each one fell
By the sword of judgment to the pitch of hell
Now the black knight must face the king's decree
Life's web has been spun by destiny
The king sets the stage by a brother's hand
Choosing White Knight to avenge the land
Mounted and ready to joust to the death
Each knight positions and takes a deep breath
The trumpet sounds and each horse dashes
On the mad brink of dust and ashes
Just before the last galloping dance
The black knight nods before yielding his lance
His helmet flies and wood splinters his chest
Fallen with honor as his eyes come to rest
The white knight lies prostrate to what he's done
Seeing blood betrayed the day he had run
In guilt and shame, he weeps and laments
To his brothers last, sacrificing moments

WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD


As snowflakes danced in glimmering moonlight
And we strolled together for half the night
You shared this wisdom that my soul gain sight

"In still winter's night listen for the call?
Of the whistling wind and beaconing drawl
As it speaks its truth and hope for all

A time will come and troubles you shall face
Darkness will fall with no hand to embrace
But where angels tremble you may find grace"

Standing there in silent serenity
As you shared such words of lucidity
I did not know you spoke of eternity

I knew how much you loved me and cared
I knew of your woes and the cross you bared
But did not know these were our last nights shared

You lied there helpless, tears streamed from my eyes
Then gasped your last breath saying your goodbyes
As I watched you pass where a new world lies

Why did this have to be our last season?
Why does life strike with an act of treason?
And why did you leave without any reason?

It's winter again as I lied alone
My heart condensing and feeling like stone
Seeking the answers to questions unknown

Suddenly my heart hears these words that are said
As the wind whispers through the window thread
"You shall find me where angels fear to tread"

An Eagle In Flight


Seems like yesterday of that time ago
The ultra sound of life's precious tempo
Nurses back and forth, mother in a stew
As we waited anxiously to greet you
Your little head entering this new land
Followed with the stretch of each foot and hand
Those first visions of light and breaths of air
As I held you in my palms with tender care
That innocent soul when looking in your eyes
A treasured blessing far beyond the skies
Bringing you home to a room painted blue
The many mornings hearing you coo
Squeezing my finger, kicking those feet
Sitting quietly with Cheerio's to eat
Taking your first steps, walking without fear
How much you learned within that first year
I recall my days filled with stress and strain
Finding my chair before going insane
But then I felt your tug grasping on my knee
As you pulled upward climbing my body
Those little hands petting my face
Then biting my chin as you tightly embrace
Soon I forgot about my hellish day
Touched by your smile and your toddler play
How much you needed me and I needed you
Bringing me the world of a child's view
I remember the nights of roaring thunder
You ran to my bed as I curled you under
We pretended we were eagles high in flight
Far above the storm away from the fright
Softly gliding over the jet stream air
Though the storms raged we rested without care
In just a few minutes you fell asleep
As I felt like a sandwich left counting sheep
The many fond moments and memories
From go-cart races to climbing trees
Watching you swing across the monkey bars
To sleeping out among the moon and stars
Time stepped away and soon you were grown
An empty house with mom and I alone
Moments to memories like dusk to dawn
Crawling to walking then mature and gone
Cannot rewind the day we said goodbye
As you found your place under another sky
In the blistering sun three oceans away
Where the storms rage but the rain clouds stray
The many nights I could hear the thunder
But how you were I was left to wonder
Until I heard the knocking at the door
And then saw your mother curled up on the floor
My breath escaped me as numbness took hold
The world around suddenly growing cold
Frozen in time with my greatest fear
My heart drowning from agony's tear
Today I sit here by the fireplace
Looking at you dressed in honor and grace
Centered on the mantel in blue and white
Full of glory like an eagle in flight
The grandchildren asking about their dad
As I boast of your fame when you were a lad
The roar of the crowd when they spoke your name
After the touchdown that won the game
I spoke of the homerun at the last out
And your dominance in each wrestling bout
But most of all how much you love them
How you valued life and valued freedom
In the midst of battle how you stood brave
Saving your comrades with the life you gave
As you soar above the earth and sky
Over the storm where the eagles fly
Can you save me a place where I can rest
On the winds of grace where the eagles nest

Moans without a Verse

Burning up your smokes, chasing down your fears
Blood thick with toxins, wallowing in your tears
The measure of your life drowning in sorrow
Blaming the world as you curse tomorrow

Have you seen past the ripples in your glass
Every night you sit on your drunken ass
Yesterday gave you all that you ever need
But today you moan consumed in your greed

There she sleeps on a cold earthen floor
Many hungry nights in poverties war
Her hair tainted red and cheeks sunken in
Belly bloating out from her bones and skin

Cries from open sores, struggling to her feet
Groans for her mother seeking an ounce to eat
Her mother boils rocks to tame the child's hunger
But soon time will rest as her days get younger

Her crimped sister lies, days without a meal
Her frail tiny body now cold and still
Life born in vanity, six years of curse
Songs left unheard are moans without a verse


The twenty cent toke of burning misery
The two dollar swig of drowning memory
Is enough to fill her belly two days more
To give her some hope in starvations war

THOUGHT:

So often we see on the evening news crying babies with distended bellies and flies covering their faces. I often wonder if we see it so often that we become de-sensitized to this horrific nightmare for nearly a billion people around the earth. We then hear about the con artists swindling for money for such causes or the food rotting in the harbors and we are deterred from helping this cause. Today, 40,000 people will die from malnutrition and starvation, mostly children. It is a slow death and is very difficult for us living with plenty to even imagine such suffering. When is the last time you went to bed hungry because you had nothing to eat? Many children go to bed hungry night after night after night. Today just 400 miles from the US in North Western Haiti, many women and children are starving to death in a land laid to waist by decades of agricultural rape and a government left in anarchy where criminals control the ports and food is distributed at a significant price through the black market.

My friend travels to Haiti 4 times a year and tells of the stories of woes when he returns. Women boil rocks to give the water to their children just as a means to give them a false sense of being fed. He tells of the many diseases that come from malnutrition as children's hair falls out in clumps as multitudes come to his side waiting for him to reach in his bag for a morsel to eat. It's difficult after one sees this kind of suffering to come back to the states and listen to the woes of a man who spent night after night in a bar and then moans and curses the day because he can't pay his cable bill.

Poverty will always exist and starvation will be a social ill for many tomorrows to come. But it only takes one person to take the spare change from his/her pocket each day to keep a child fed for that same day.

Click My Journal For Blog Entries and Comments