THE BARD'S SONG

Picture by Don Maitz

On a dark road to all places far and near
Alone walks a tall, lean and somber balladeer
Alone to all but those with a well trained eye
And they see he is never alone though he might try
For the spirit of every fallen hero has he in tow
Lost souls and demons are also likely to show
His songs of yesterdays long past and forgotten now
Breathes life anew into these aberrations somehow
He sings of great deeds they paid for with their blood
And greater battles fought in snows cold or rains mud
Warriors who only know pain, be it others or their own
Find that the Bards songs and stories is their only home
Love, lust and laughter also live in the songs the Bard's sing
But free of spirit no life of their own do these stories bring
In the heat of battle awash with blood the heroes live anew
They live in the Bard's song that he sang to me and you
Bear

Author's Note

I leave most punctuation to the reader that they can read the poem in their own meter, mood and motility. I thank you for taking the time to read my work.

Reviews

[Érenn]

Well have I stumbled upon an old work of yours or is it really a relic of the past who was also named Bear? No this is seriously good. I mean almost felt I was reading one of those myths or legends as portrayed in the Greek Tales. ^^ I love the rhymes, and the vocabulary used here is amazing. Wow this was such an interesting read and the story was amazingly portrayed ^^ I enjoyed this read a lot ^^ Thank God for my habit of snooping into other people's works especially those done in the past (just kidding although I do like reading older works of the same person to find out whether there is a change in the way one used to write)

[Bear]

This was written as part of my old poetry circle for the mid 90's, everyone in the group wrote a poem about this picture and we met on Friday nights (my time) and commented on all the poems as a group. We had almost 200 members from 32 different countries and it was great fun. It was more like a sociology class, learning all the different ways people can see the same picture. I thank you for your observations and comments, I have posted some of my poems from the old group here. My friend ShadowWhyspe was also a member of the poetry circle and I know she has also posted a number of the old poetry circle poems, they will have the same picture as my poem has if your interested :~)

[Érenn]

Oh very much interested, believe me I love to read such poetry, It's a different thing all together and something one such as me will enjoy and learn as I read them. ^^

[JMoo]

Shakespeare would have been proud!

[Bear]

I don't know if I can handle such a complement without getting a big head, you are to kind. Thank you for the high praise.

[Shawn]

I loved this poem! I noticed that your couplets rhymed perfectly, which is something I don't come by too often on this site. your rhymes were also very creative, and helped to develop the story. I loved the vocabulary you used, and it reminded me of some old Greek tales. Love to see more of your works!

Michael

[Bear]

Thank you, the poem was part of a writing challenge just for this picture, many of my poems posted here were part of writing challenges with the poetry circle from the 90's

[hagi]

Good vocabulary
Rhyming Stanzas
And a story told

[marcus]

Ah, the wandering bards! I'm picturing Homer, and all that followed..