*This original poem won me Bardic Champion for my small Shire
Today the brush is his sword
each stroke precise as his word
Tomorrow the sword is his brush
red paint will flow in a rush
Art in his movement
Flexed, crafting his treasures
Carving Intricate dragons
Who will shield him from axes
sketching beautiful runes
that will guard as he relaxes
He sews strength
* I wrote this about my man as he crafted a shield that has won him an Arts & Science competition and many battles.
*This is a medievalized version of Dear Mr, President by Pink. The tune and many of the lyrics are from that song- I just made the adjustments.
Dear Your Majesty
Pray, take a walk with me.
Let’s pretend there’s no divine right and
You’re not better than me.
I’d like to ask you some questions if we can speak honestly.
What do you feel when you see all the peasants in the street?
Do you ever notice the serfs who care for your sheep?
What do you feel when you put on your crown?
Are you proud?
How do you sleep while the rest of us die?
How do you drink when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?
How do you sit while our banners fly?
Can you even look me in the eye
And tell me why?
Dear Your Majesty
Were you an angry boy?
Are you an angry boy?
How can you say
For the good of mankind?
We’re not dumb and we’re not blind.
What a village had to sell
Predetermined if it fell
What kind of leader would take his own people’s homes away?
And what kind of leader might burn his own daughter for what they say?
I can only imagine who the inquisition plans to flay
You’ve come a long way from pillaging and crusades….
How do you sleep while the rest of us die?
How do you eat when a farmer had to starve to bring you pie.
How do you watch as our banners fly?
Can you even hear the battle cry?
Let me tell you ’bout hard work
Tilling the field with a baby on the way
Let me tell you ’bout hard work
Building your palace while we sleep in the hay.
Let me tell you ’bout hard work
pushing the wagon of plague and pox
Let me tell you ’bout hard work
Hard work
Hard work
You don’t know notice our
Hard work
Hard work
Ohhhhhhhhhhhh
How do you sleep at night?
How do you watch as our banners fly
Dear Your Majesty
You’d never take a walk with me.
Would you?
*This song about the Viking way of life and death is based on and to the tune of “Gravity” by Sara Bareilles.
Something always brings back to you
It never takes too long
Across oceans, mountains, forests too
I still find you here, gotta prove that I’m strong
Throwing axe in my clutch
spilling bowls and brains
I never wanted anything so much
than to drown in my blood
honourably slain
Set me free, brave I’ll be. I don’t want fall
this day without taking them down with me
Here I am and I stand so tall, just the way I’m supposed to be.
But they outnumber me, and surround me
You love me because I’m agile
with sword and prong
but you choke me with this bile
even before they are drawn
Set me free, brave I’ll be. I don’t want fall
this day without taking them down with me
Here I am and I stand so tall, just the way I’m supposed to be.
But they outnumber me, and surround me
I live here in the breeze, at your decree
Shield wall will earn me mead
here on the ground.
You’re where I face my foe
can’t seem to let that go.
The one thing that I still know is
You’ll make me renown
You’ll make me renown, yeah, yeah, yeah
They’re on to me, on to me, and all over me…
Something always brings me back to you.
It never takes too long
Down by the fjord
Where the toughest Vikings row
Back to my home I dare not go
For if I do, my husband will say
Did you ever see a Jarl
With a fiercer snarl?
Down by the fjord
Down by the fjord
Where the toughest Vikings row
Back to my home I dare not go
For if I do, my husband will say
Did you ever see a shield maiden
Who was so plunder laden?
Down by the fjord
Down by the fjord
Where the toughest Vikings row
Back to my home I dare not go
For if I do, my husband will say
Did you ever see an Saxon
So handsome and flaxen?
Down by the fjord
Down by the fjord
Where the toughest Vikings row
Back to my home I dare not go
For if I do, my husband will say
Did you ever see a king
of whom more bards will sing?
Down by the fjord.
Down by the fjord
Where the toughest Vikings row
Back to my home I dare not go
For if I do, my husband will say
I was too busy raiding
to notice you were away
*based on Down By The Bay (children’s song)
Pure enthusiasm
wrapped in steel
Shielded from our time
Swords that melt
frustrations of now
with potency of past lives
unbound by worldly pressure
Unplugged Joy
Teaching as he learns
Feeding off the clang
A spark of knowledge
Heritage of muscle memory
Fabric of ages unrecorded
Warmed by chivalry’s pledge
Bardic Quill 