The Knight
2005

His only armour, was love.
His only shield, bravery.
Many battles, had the knight
Endured - each time, fortune
Did not favour him.

A pen was his sole weapon,
For he knew how mighty this
Was - the power of words, he
Believed, would vanquish
Any foe.

Few knew the darkness that
The knight had fought.
Few knew, too, the darkness of
The knight, the darkness, that
Consumed him, even in the day.

A crusade, that had begun,
Many years ago - throughout
Many distant lands, the knight
Had followed an honest quest,
A chivalrous quest, of love.

To find a gentle maiden,
And enchant her with tales
Of love and ecstasy, long
Gone since distant times;
To be her lifelong devotee.

With such sweet hope, did
He set out on his journey.
A fire burning in his heart,
A light shining in his soul,
Surely nothing could defeat him?

The knight didn't know how
Long and hard his quest would
Turn out to be.
He thought, his words, and his
Honest heart would be enough...

Little did he bargain with the
Forces of darkness, that so
Easily chase those of a gentle
Nature - to dissuade them from
Their quest.

The darkness, of loneliness -
At any time, it can descend on
The souls of the honest.
It's cruel face is never shown,
Only ever heard, by the sound of silence.

Utterly alone, not even a saddle to
Carry him onward, he walked for miles,
Miles upon miles, over uncertain terrains.
He had nothing to his name, no currency,
No possessions, all that he had, were his words.

After many years of searching,
And seeking, the knight was
So tired, tired of the battles,
Tired of the knightmares, tired
Of everything.

For each time, he had found
A maiden, he pursued her with
All his heart - he laid down his
Shield, and began to fight for
Her affections - with his words.

Noble words, honest words, deep
Words, kind words, soft words.
But all the worlds in the words
He gave, and all the words in the
World were not enough.

For his maidens did not see,
Nor feel the things he so bravely
Scribed...
...nor did they care that each
Time his words were lost, a part of him died.

And then so came the darkness -
Loneliness, despair, fear,
Melancholy - each a separate
Battle, that a whole army
Would be hard-pressed to defeat.

Each time, he would have to hold
His shield, so heavy, sometimes too
Much to bear, and at those times
The darkness managed to penetrate
His armour of love, wounding him deep.

Many months, it took, to parry the
Crushing blows of the darkness.
Each time, the armour of the knight,
Was in ruins - he wondered if ever
It would be mended.

The knight often wondered, if he
Should turn back - and go home;
Yet, he had no home, for the only
Home he knew, was at the side of
A fair maiden.

But how long, could he endure,
This inquisition - might not he
Pay the ultimate price, before long?
Might his mighty pen be forever
Stubbed - and his words flow no more?

Yet, somehow, the knight held on,
Sometimes with such a fine tread
Between defeat and death, for the
Latter often follows the former;
Though no-one would ever pride his feat.

To the world, he was expected to
Keep his face, full of bravery.
But beneath his dissembled facade,
He cried oceans of acid tears, burning
His soul and heart with a cold fire.

No longer did he want to have to be brave.
But his siren's call was too enticing
To ignore - the touch, the smell, the embrace
Of a maiden, was his raison d'être - he lived
To fulfil his quest of love.

He was tired of courting after false calls,
Finding soft maidens, that seemed to
Harbour such love, such wonder, such life -
Yet his brave words, weren't wanted,
And again and again, his unrequited heart pined.

The time came, when his heart had been
Mortally wounded - for the first time in
His life, he had laid down his shield,
Out of hope; and he had divested his
Armour - giving it to his maiden...

He believed, the darkness was finally
Vanquished - that no longer he would
Have to battle against any cruel forces,
He was with his maiden, and at last,
Home...

His words were wanted, his tender stories
Loved; and the maiden and the knight were
Joined in body and heart.
Betwinement, and a new life, danced on the
Horizon...

But something was terribly wrong.
One day, he awoke, to find his maiden, gone.
A heavy foreboding settled upon his heart once
More - at first disbelief sparked through his
Mind, but then the darkness echoed in the distance.

Disbelief turned into anger, and anger into shock.
His heart, was totally uncovered, totally naked.
For his armour was gone, and his shield discarded.
The darkness all but took control of his mind,
And his being, his heart, and his soul...

Inconsolable, the knight found himself close
To death.
Unspeakably abandoned, without his armour,
Without his shield, he no longer could find
Any words within him.

Months passed by, his eyes almost blackened
By the darkness that had taken almost entire
Control of him - he could hardly see the
Crazy tracks he left - circles of madness,
In the dust of the earth.

But by the power of a sure miracle,
He still breathed - shallowly, but surely.
And in the distance, an echo called out
To him - at first, he couldn't
Believe it - he thought he was going mad.

Yet, mysteriously, an essence stirred with
A special resonance within him.
Weary, with the tiredness of false hope,
He couldn't quite hear what the echo
Was saying to him.

Some weeks elapsed, and gradually, the
Voice grew louder - he could hear it
Calling out, a familiar song, one
That he used to sing, a long time ago.
Could it be real, still he wondered.

Then a relief came - the darkness started
To magically melt away from his poisoned
Soul - though in his mind, doubts still
Played an infernal counterpoint to the
Hopes he started to envisage.

In the distance, he saw a bridge, fading in
And out of reality, like a mirage.
Legends and fables, that he learned of,
Many years ago, when still he was growing -
They spoke to him of such a bridge...

A bridge across forever - a bridge that
Only ever materialises once in a lifetime,
And leads to a land of unbridled joy and love,
Where shields and armour are no longer needed,
Where time and space, vanish, and pain ceases.

From the other side of that bridge, that's
Where the voice was coming from.
A tender, soft voice, singing a beautiful
Song - he could hardly believe his ears,
It seemed like it couldn't be real.

The bridge was still a few days to reach,
Though he could see it - such was the shining
Brightness of it's form, and he could hear
That song - such was the crystal purity
Of it's melody.

But, he could not help but be drawn,
Almost in a daze - he thought perhaps it
Was the Lorelei - such was the beauty of
It's promise, and such was the transcendence
Of it's nature.

As he came closer, he could see a beautiful
Bright haze on the other side, and a tender,
Soft hand reached out from the haze, earnestly
Awaiting a reply.
But the knight started to tremble...

He didn't understand, he couldn't understand,
He did understand, but he couldn't comprehend.
How was this all happening?
He remembered all the battles, all the words,
All the dreams, all the hopes in his life.

He wanted to feel afraid - because he thought
He had been here before.
If he walked on to this bridge, then his life
Would change forever - if he took the hand
That beckoned, he would not be able to turn back...

He had been here before, but only in his dreams.
Dreams, long ago, of a beautiful maiden, long
Had he forgotten what they meant, and that
One day they might come true.
It was almost as if his destiny was already cast.

The brave knight came to the edge of the bridge,
Enchanted by the warmth coming from the haze.
Still, in his mind, a few natural anxieties
Spoke, trying to grab attention from his heart.
But, he didn't want to listen to them anymore...

Nervously lifting his right leg, he placed his
Foot onto the bridge, wondering, if this is
The moment he had waited for all his life.
He took a look back, at the path that had led
Him here - a long, lonely, painful path.

But he realised, perhaps, this was the only
Way for him to get here.
He faced forward, and looked into the haze,
Walking forward slowly - he approached the
Hand...

This was it, his last chance, if he
Wanted to turn back now, he had to turn
Around and run as fast as he could.
But, he couldn't, he didn't want to,
He walked forward, and reached out for the hand...

In an instant, the haze enveloped him,
The dull tones of the world slipped away,
And he found himself in a heavenly warmth.
The song began to fill every part of his being,
Every cell of his soul...

The knight felt the weariness of the past
Fall away, and he felt as if he were floating.
The haze pulsated, and a form materialised
In front of him - slowly, the outline
Of a beautiful maiden began to appear.

He could feel nothing but love, coming
From the maiden.
She took his other hand and drew him
Into a beautiful embrace, and a tender kiss.
All at once, he knew, truly, finally, he was home...