Assorted Poems of an Apprentice Bard

Title: Assorted Poems of an Apprentice Bard

Author: Branwen

Sweet Spirit

I am but a breath of wind

Upon thy mighty self;

But now I ask for peace of mind,

Not vengeance or instant wealth,

For I know not who I am.

My identity is lost;

I've lived and died a thousand deaths

And paid most every cost.

I'd given up so long ago,

And then you came to me.

I would never have made it, Without you

To love me and set me free.

A Poet's Fate

With Tear in eye and lump in throat,

I heard with joy the verse I'd wrote --

Joy like the unicorn that glides at night,

With its gentle gallop in the pale moonlight.

Golden horn and silver mane

Quickly diminish with familiar pain

As my verse lay, crumpled on the floor,

Along with my spirit, broken once more.

Warrior's Mantra

Strength of body, strength of mind,

Strength of fathers long before;

Can that strength now long endure?

Can true peace be far behind?

Ephitaph of an Escaped Slave

Chains of servitude now broken,

Transcending laws of prophets passed --

Life's burdens borne on shoulders sore

Have been relieved, at last!

The Rose

Bleak was the day that found me,

When silence was my foe;

A stranger as dark and foreboding as he was so long ago.

Hearing a whisper in a shadow,

Lighting lantern overhead,

Expecting brigands in my kitchen...

Found a lonely friend instead.

We needn't speak simple words--

Such was not our way.

Our speech transcended language, so what more should we say?

She questioned how long I would mourn

For loves who'd now moved on.

But time was cruel to my dear friend...

By morning she was gone.

That rose whose stem was bent in two,

Petals withered black and dry.

Now sits in silence by my bedside, still awaiting my reply.

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