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Wishes and hope, candles afloat

Candles affixed to small blocks of oak Set afloat from streams rocky shore Into the night, those small feeble lights Drift away to be seen…no more Upon those craft ride dreams and wishes Hopes and ambitions… woes and emotions Inscribed on parchment in uncertain script Noble thoughts, prayers… and grand notions Dreams set adrift on water deep and dark Wishes washed away to windy far off bay Hopes and aspirations, pleas and supplications For end to hunger…and the start of better days Long do they stand, on the rocky strand In family groups, dressed all in tatters Watching their dreams, carried off on the stream As if that fading glow was all that mattered Horsebread, light ale, goats milk and pottage Coarse cloth, reed sandals, homes of daub and wattle Twelve hour days in fields , then labor on master’s cottage Warmed only by fires of dung, of sheep and of cattle Festival days in monastic keep Bodies kept warm in fleece of sheep Wishes and wants on water take wing For on the morrow, (in sorrow) tribute’s to be paid… To the charitable church and the kindly king

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  1. Date: 2/23/2013 9:31:00 AM

    A beautiful job of setting the scene. I witnessed a similar event in Japan years ago, one of my more memorable life events. Fine writing. J