M’Lady

“Once upon a time,”… that was enough

To put you to sleep in the strength of my arms.

Let me warm your hands, now, as empty as mine.

 

(Both scarred with, “when we knew each other

Way back then.” In love and young.

 

We fought the fire and the ice; both, yours and mine.

…not to burn, nor to freeze, but, to keep us safe from harm).

 

We’ve seen love

Dressed to be kissed;

Sometimes naked, sometimes, dismissed.

 

We’ve seen love

Rejecting bliss;

Whether sweet, sour, or completely amiss.

 

We’ve seen love

 Described where only a poets soul

Still perplexed, tries and dies in an effort to surmise.

 

Oh, perpetual beautiful love!

So elusive cloaked in laughter and in darkness cries.

 

I had to be the villain; stealing a kiss

With arms extended,

Wrapped in a young corrupt heart;

 

When you didn’t insist for any other gift,

Embracing the fire of Joan of Arc.

 

What did I miss?

 

My shield is torn. My armor weak from worn.

Our victories?  Defeats without blessing;

When my actions were wrong.

 

And my surrender?

You said,

It, would have made me strong.

 

 

Kneeling, I await the sword upon my shoulder.

Or, my ride through the gate of aging rusted steel,

Un-knighted, head bowed on a horse as old as I.

 

We will ride rogue in the kingdom

Of M’Lady’s dream; love lost in my youth,

Having spent its final notice.

 

Whatever I have learned about love, I have learned from you;

Patience, understanding, perseverance, diligence, loyalty and acceptance.  

 

This lesson, having acted in primal ignorance,

I ask for your forgiveness before I cannot ride again.

 

I re-approach you, walking my horse.

I, without a sword, and he, without a saddle;

To my empty throne, with only enlightened arms.

 

Buried under, covered in decaying guilt, in the soil of time lies the treasure of life

I once declined. I shovel up debris, from its burial-place, sifting through the past,

Weeding the dirt for the clue, the space, to plant a bleeding heart.