OwlsNestBard

Name:
Location: Shire of Trisel, Trimaris

I am in my late forties, a proud husband, father, and a bard. I am a book pedlar by trade and a bookman by vocation. I am a romantic, a realist, and a Believer. I like a good joke, and a bad one even better. I admire all ladies for the innate beauty that is in each one, but my heart is sworn to the fair and gentle Lady Lorelei, who has consented to share my life and my name.

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Why They Are Shaped Like That

Gently I caress her curves and take her in my arms,
Fingers lightly stroking as I coax from her, her charms.
As I seek out her secrets, revealing each delight,
She offers me a fresh and subtle mystery each night.

And when I touch her as she wants, how can I not rejoice
To revel once again within the magic of her voice.
There’s no one who ignites my soul as she does when she sings.
She’s such a giving mistress when I play upon her strings.

When I am melancholy, she sings both sad and low,
Offering a soothing balm to ease my sense of woe.
And when I’m in a lighter mood, then how she loves to dance.
Following me, move for move, in every circumstance.

She forgives my clumsy fumbling as I learn the art
Of drawing out her music from the echoes of her heart.
I’m yet a skill-less lover, ever striking the wrong note.
Still, the promise of her melody keeps all my hopes afloat.

Wiser heads than mine might not indulge in the conceit.
But when she’s nestled in my lap, that’s when I’m most complete.
So who can blame me if I take my metaphor too far?
There’s none who want me so I give my love to my guitar.

Sunday, May 27, 2007

Contemplating the Poetics

Tragedy has ever been the poet’s stock in trade,
Evoking fear and pity with the verses that he’s made.
A tale of woe and sorrow sometimes satisfies the soul:
Of noble heroes swept away by fates beyond control.

They’re always fair and beautiful. Their presence overawes.
And yet, to keep them humbled, they are touched by fatal flaws.
A geas that can’t be ignored, honor crossed by love;
Their feet of clay bring down their lofty finer parts above.

A ballad about broken hearts, can anyone resist?
Who’d have thought that Eros could make such a bitter fist.
When honor’s caught between two loves, someone’s got to lose,
Knowing he will face damnation for whichever way he’d choose.

When brother fights with brother, be it for the noblest cause,
The angels round them weep, and even devils might take pause.
The purest strains of fury answer to honor’s demands.
When the stain of brother’s blood is on a brother’s hands.

From the rising of the curtain, until all dramatics cease,
The words bring their recipients emotional release.
But who would want to live a tale that ends in tragedy?
For tragedy may make great art, but poor reality.

Friday, May 25, 2007

For My Daughter, Who's Beginning To Ask Difficult Questions

My daughter, you are dear to me,
The essence of my heart.
But when you ask me about love
I’m not sure where to start.
I could say you are over young
To ask of such a thing.
But you later may not listen
To what wisdom I might bring.

Beware first of attraction.
What’s pleasing to the eye
Expresses only appetite.
Such love is but a lie,
And can’t sustain a lasting fire
When difficulties rise.
Such love is fine when all is well,
But in hard times it dies.

Don’t look for love in taverns
Or bars. That kind of love
May yield up a good time or two
But no life to speak of.
Good times are superficial
And won’t stand any test
But one who will stand with you
When it’s difficult is best.

And don’t ever deceive yourself
About a married man.
For one who will cheat with you
Will cheat on you if he can.
No matter how he tells you
That his love for you is true.
If he could be untrue to her,
He’ll do the same to you.

My greatest word of caution
Against a bitter fall:
The human heart’s a liar,
To itself the most of all.
To get what it believes it wants,
There’s nothing it won’t do;
Tell you what you want to hear,
Excuse the wrong you do.

My daughter, I can only tell
What I’ve known and I’ve seen.
I’ve loved and lost and staggered back
To start over again.
I’d spare you the hard lessons
I’ve suffered if I could.
But sometimes learning has to hurt
To do you any good.

Some day you’ll find your true love,
An honorable man.
You’ll learn to love the slow way
through the hard times, till you stand
Beside him to profess your love,
While I give you away.
My heart will break with love for you…
But that’s another day.

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Line Sergeant

Count your arrows careful, boys
And cut a few more stakes.
Dig the ditches deeper
Until the morning breaks.
For you know cavalry’s coming
With the morning sun,
And my orders are to shoot the first
One of you to run.
Shields and spears come forward,
Bowmen right behind,
And pray to every god you know
To strike those whoresons blind.
Last night we heard the speeches
About honor and the right.
The nobles want a glorious war.
We get a dirty fight.
Don’t give me talk of chivalry:
Too high above my head.
I prefer an ambush
And all my foemen dead.
Honor’s what the nobles praise
And for which they all strive.
For me a fair fight’s one in which
My boys come out alive.
Always kick ‘em when he’s down.
That way he don’t get up.
You’re fighting for your life here,
Not some pretty silver cup.
Your life depends on killing him
Before he can kill you.
Use any means at hand to run
The bloody bugger through.
You’ve heard the minstrels sing about
The glory that is war.
It’s naught but chopping bodies
Into bits of meat and gore.
And I can tell you now lads,
That the only way to win
Is rip the other guy’s guts out
And keep your own within.
Sharpen all your blades
And have them ready at your side,
The better to stick them into
Some unlucky bugger’s hide.
Put your weight behind your point
And make your killing stick.
The kindest mercy you can show
Is if you kill him quick.
I don’t care if you’re afraid:
Only a fool is not.
As long as you hold this line
With everything you’ve got.
If you stand in battle,
The enemy might, you kill.
But if I see you running
You know I surly will.
Too late now to turn about.
The horns are on the wind.
I can hear the clank and jingle
Of marching armored men.
Soon there will be battle
As far as eye can see,
And there’s no room for cowards
On either side of me.
Weapons at the ready.
Foemen to the fore.
Now’s the time we earn our pay
In bloody, dirty war.
Don’t worry that you may show fear
To the enemy.
Just make sure you always stay
Damn afraid of me.

Friday, May 11, 2007

Beloved

We are lovers, but not in the usual sense.
For what is mere physical conjoining, compared
To the intimacy of the poet and the reader?
You, taking my words, my distilled essence,
Drawing them deep within you to where
Your hidden fires burn, and your secret
Longings await the poet's touch
To release them.

Do I reach that spot within you?
The Switch the releases the ecstatic
Joys of realization? The recognition
Of hungers you never knew you had?
Do you crave the caress of my words
Upon the tender places of your soul?

If I can awaken within, the desire
To feel, again and again, that
Eruption of meaning within your spirit,
Within your mind, your body, your being,
Then I am fulfilled as no lover has been,
Who only knows his lover's yielding flesh.
And the secret smile we share
Is ours alone together,
Though we be half a world apart
Or more.

Monday, May 07, 2007

Fair and Beautiful Lady, Good Eve

For a new friend

Fair and beautiful Lady, good eve.
Never would I your young heart deceive.
Your company's been merry,
A Joy to receive.
It saddens my soul that it's now time to leave.

We've shared in the music, told many a tale,
Drowned all our sorrows with a glass of good ale,
Drunk to our health
That our luck might not fail.
It's been such an evening as I love so well.

But now the road calls and beckons to me .
That leads o'er the hills and down to the sea.
Lest I put down roots,
It's time I must flee,
For a bard has to wander to always be free.

Thank you for cheering my heart with your smile.
It will warm my journey for many a mile.
I'll always remember
Your dash and your style.
And if I return I might stay for a while.

Fair and beautiful Lady, good eve.
Never would I your young heart deceive.
Your company's been merry,
A joy to receive.
It saddens my soul that it's now time to leave.