Best Knight Errant Poems
they're not speaking to me now, the Muses;
they're being stubborn,
witholding information, like beetle-browed accomplices -
their mouths pulled tight as drawstring purses.
they sit on their twin thrones of epiphany and genius,
smiling silently,
mockingly, while my fingers twitch with impotent yearning
and the chambers of my mind are cold,
dark and hollow as a cave.
i have become a contradiction in terms -
the wordless poet strikes again...
writer's block is the yoke around my neck,
the anchor that sends me drifting lachrymose
into the suffocating depths -
i am drowning,
swallowing tendrils of seaweed and tufts of
gossamer melancholy.
a struggling artist shouldn't have to work this hard -
to pay the bills yes, but not to create;
without the birthing process there is no artist...
yet there is still hope, a smidgen, a dark smudge on the horizon.
some knight errant might appear, with golden locks
and a smile that trembles the knees,
to inject love and longing back into my sulky heart.
he might extend his brave hand, down into
these murky depths, and yank me up;
dragging my creativity, bedraggled, choking,
retching, into the bleak light of inspiration's flare...
but then again, who believes in knights these days?
i am just as likely to wither away down here,
among the fishes and the wall-eyed anemones,
until the words have all filtered from my brain
and poetry is just a fond memory
from long-ago halcyon days...
Can’t catch em
Outlived my time
Click of eyes, no chime
Still young a bantam rooster
Old people seem to lose the rhyme
Can’t catch em like I u-ster
To walk alone it is my path
Lonesome on the fringe
Time sometimes brings a merry laugh
But who am I to whinge
A kiss for lovers in the mist
A cuddle neath the stars
The right one have I maybe missed
Neath Jupiter and Mars
But onward ever onward
To quest and often fail
Knight errant fearless undeterred
He seeks the Holy Grail
I wish I was more of a fool,
Whose only happiness is to make folly my desires;
Nonsense to which I assented my ego,
To err the only decency I fondled.
I wish I was more of a coward,
Whose only dismay is I myself being a hero;
A morsel of gallantry is scattered,
Losing the identity of a knight errant.
I hate it when I become so enthused,
With the thing most of the people hate;
Or perhaps I am just so fond of pretensions,
Candidly spoiling the inceptive of sanity.
I hate it when the heart's debacle is unmasked,
Becoming too mundane to obscure;
Dragging me to the abyss of deception,
Desperately seeking for my lost soul.
What can I be to you? A scoundrel perhaps?
A naught would be much appalling too;
It gives me no option for bliss,
Nor the dire longing for a kiss.
I walk leaving with no trace.
Head held up like a king with no crown;
Wide enough my kingdom it may seem,
My queen I lost, my treasure I wasted.
How can I get up from below,
Deserting the future it may offer;
I can only do a little with what I have,
Constantly waning from what is left inside.
I wish of my own stupidity, bragging it loosely,
Claiming my own ardor in disdain;
The desolation was never in my mind,
Until I lost my fervor, my amity, my love.
AUTUMN IN UDELNAYA WOODS
The smoke from the shashlik fires made us hungry
So that we could have eaten the falling golden manna from the trees
Offered to two wanderers in this sylvan wilderness.
Not forty years, but forty minutes in which life changed for us.
It was only a field trip she said, to study the socio-environmental
Arrangement, the attitudes, of couples in the autumnal picnic grounds.
She needed the truth for her dissertation, she needed my help.
Knight errant in the pursuit of knowledge, that’s me.
In pursuit of her, if the simple truth be known.
She gave me the golden opportunity I had been seeking all summer:
Now the harvest was at hand, and the reaper all too ready.
She needed photos to show the attitudes of the couples
No photos were needed to show our attitudes.
We were clearly a couple with attitude, and my socio-environmental
Score matched hers exactly: that’s scientific for “we fell in love”.
Look up! Such a glorious afternoon of yellows, and a blue sky.
Look down! The lake reflecting our faces filled with smiling delight,
Gold underfoot, and her lustrous flaxen hair draped over my shoulder.
The field trip showed the truth, she knew it and so did I.
It was forty years ago : we still remember it, tell our kids about it,
Especially on fall days like today.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .
Written by Sydney Peck 2 October 2011, and
Entered in Francine Roberts’s Contest “A Nature Tale”
DAMSEL CAUSING DISTRESS
The knight errant sent for me, but I’ve gone missing
For three days now, while he’s composed a ditty:
In the tide of feminism I still haven’t given up kissing
Being what is termed fatalistically pretty -
But I can be the ‘no’ that makes for nice
When his flame burns under his boiler suit,
Then I’m decently torpid like a fish on ice
Where the guts need to go when the runts root -
A pillowing breast, my nightcap a soliloquy
To hell with his billowing sails and pregnant ships
Let him go, this guy who’s got everything but me
With his big thighs, big legs, big hips -
All the things we women should shun
Save satin, silk, squirm, sperm, and …sun.
(c) Rosemarie Rowley
From IN MEMORY OF HER (2008)
i am reminded of my mother's advice
find a woman with God dearest in her heart
be grateful if she comes to love you
sit at His feet therein and blessings be yours
i am again lost in photos of you
when life held you in precious moments
those perennials you so loved
each as knight errant before your roses
lost in hues from rose, lavender, and blue
butterflies appearing
as they eagerly searched for their drams
wings of white, yellow, and orange
your marrow fills me
now a longing held within
times when i hunger to approach that Throne
upon supplicant knees
offer every blessing life has given
for simply one more moment
in your arms
OKC 5/22
“Love is not love which alters it when alteration finds or bends with the remover to remove: O no! It is an ever-fixed mark that looks on tempests and is never shaken; it is the star to every wandering bark whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken." William Shakespeare
True Knight
Could you support the Underdog ,
Could you take the poor mans' part,
Knight Errant could you fight Magog,
Rip out his Demons heart,
and when the wrong of Evil done,
You see the Devils' part,
to give your life to overcome,
be Valiant cleave the path...Don
We the persecuted poor want equality with the Evil rich.
We can have equality without Communism or any other ism.
The Evil Demon Greed is overpowering and the Lying Propaganda pre-veils:the Truth:}
We have a media like Facebook to reach everyone, and give each person the vote of how it
“will be” Furthering THE Political Correctness foisted upon us we should insist on Equality of Pesos' for all on the Planet. Not Dollars but world bank credits.
This obtainable Utopia needs funding “without the need for greed to be rich ethics.”
Advertising is needed to get Utopia, rolling,
remove the Evil greed,
stamp out the evil seed,
remove the shoddy lust,
Give power to the Just,
the rich will be Non-plused,
A better day, God-Speed,
In the One God yes we trust....
I woke trembling on the eve of dawn
dappled sunlight through window shone
upon my canvas there had been drawn
a masculine image, chiseled cheekbones
What fantasy had I taken in flight
Had my hand charcoaled this face
And in the darkness of my night
what knight-errant did I embrace
His eyes bore through my very own
No angle shielded their penetration
I reached for palette and brushes
he guided my hand for his creation
Colors gave life to detailed features
Blue eyes were flecked with gold
Bright with desire, grinning at me
I'd never painted something so bold
My palette awash in shades of oil
Streaks of cobalt covered my gown
When his eyes stared back at me
I knew that soon I would drown
I could not bear to tear myself away
On and on I painted where he led
My hand had wearied from its task
I lay back down on my rumpled bed
With eyes closed in hope of dreaming
of this man who now lives in my heart
Come, my handsome knight, once more
I can no longer bear living in worlds apart
As i traverse, never know when my sun will retire wholly
As its gaze bump on whole, to split out my knight errant shadow,
Dusty and encrusted sole of mine, wild creatures hum their pitying elegy like a widow While colourful grasses rest on their sandy and muddy couch delightfully.
The cloud coming with veiled complexion, my sun must go into bed,
The moon surfacing, the exact time for shadowy walkers,
Might stop in your hut to taps your wood like woodpeckers,
Chide me not, don't let your eyes go red.
For, that which comes to a man goes to another man
Maybe whirl whirl like wind or yours drizzle drizzle like rain,
Which thou cannot trick upon, as thou lives among human
For, mankind race is a journey to the same terrain.
For traveller am i since birth put me on
Chide me not away, nor my time sit upon.
Southern Cross Knight
under the southern cross we stand, •
and liberty is our demand, •
you stand on us , we will stand on you, •
careful how you treat us blue, •
cos we will fight , be damned....its true....
Could you support the underdog,
Could you take the poor mans part,
Knight errant could you fight Magog,
Rip out his demons heart.
And when the wrong of evil done
You see the devils part
To give your life to overcome
Be valiant cleave the path?
Don Johnson
ILLUSION AND DISILLUSION
In a tv show I remember well
Called “Have Gun, Will Travel”
Richard Boone was the good guy hero,
Like Carradine’s Kung fu with Master Po.
In English tv’s “The Equalizer”, we
Had same thing, but with cups of tea.
Dunno if it’s just me or what,
But today kids don’t get to see a plot
Where a thinking non-violent
Guy can fix problems as a knight-errant,
And obey all reasonable laws,
And ask little reward or applause.
Now it’s bling and cash and save your hide:
Our tv shows kids that life’s a free ride.
Gotta be a better way for young minds
To learn to be selfless and kind.
We need a Paladin in each kid’s life
To show how to cope with strife.
Soft-spoken, big-stick kinda guy. . . .
Or did they all lay down and die?
. . . . . . . . . . .. . .
Entered in Shani Fassbender's Contest
Favorite Television Show/Episode Remembered
Sancho Panza loaned his trusty donkey to Don Quixote
they had finally reached the village of the gorgeous Dulcinea.
Baskets brimming with excited sunflowers would be delivered.
The squire congratulated himself for getting the knight-errant here.
He sat back to watch the performance, as Quixote began to sing.
True Knight
Could you support the underdog,
Could you take the poor mans part,
Knight errant could you fight Magog,
Rip out his demons heart.
And when the wrong of evil done
You see the devils part
To give your life to overcome
Be valiant cleave the path?
Don Johnson
For our Knights in Afghanistan....
CROWN THE KING
Kendrick, king of kinetic kinesis,
Kaleidoscopic knowledge knits keenest.
Kindled by Compton's kinetic flame,
Keen verses vie for victory, acclaim.4
Knightly in kendo of kindred beats,
Keeps a killing calmness under knit sheets.
Kicks, knuckles, knockouts off his notes,
His knavish knacks, knight-errant floats.8
King of the craft, crowned in creative conquest,
Kendrick the keystone, like Kinta Kunte's quest.
The keeper of keys to kingdoms is K.Dot,
Kindhearted kinfolk, Kenny is kinetically hot.¹²
Kendrick's alter ego kits Kung-Fu Kenny,
Kdot's "6:16 in LA" & "Not Like Us" impressed many.
Kendrick's career-spanning series of the same name
Keeps Kung-Fu Kenny kitted-up in the rap game.¹6
Kaleidoscope king, keep kindling the art.
Crown King Kendrick, he who's carved apart.¹8
VICK MANUEL POETRY
{VMP}
FORM: Alliteration
Copyright ©?11th May, 2024.
LAST STAR
Death knell at night,
Laid out in illusory beauty —
My world out of sight.
Heaven’s clean and transparent.
The mesmerizing snow melts red —
Carry me away O Knight-Errant!
But alas I’m all alone in life,
Amidst the creatures of the night —
The beast wielding his hunter’s knife.
My eyes long to see you once more!
In my repetitive dreams of shallow breath,
I draw you to the warmest cling of my core.
My eyes blinking, salty tears stinging —
I feel you are within arm’s reach yet late.
Darling, the death knell is swelling, sore ringing!
Kiss my forehead, Sweetheart! Love me from afar!
Oh, look with me. See what I see!
As I close my eyes...there…the last star.
11/30/2018
Silent One’s The Last...Poetry Contest