lady in the lake

The rain pummels the roof,
And the old bard shifts,
Colors offer the autumnal proof,
As then his memory shifts,

He recalls the woman in white,
Her side with blooded scar,
Loneliness stares up to this knight,
A shadow close and forever far,

To the wood he’ll meander,
To slay the demons of thought,
And to the injuries he’ll pander,
The scars time had wrought,

The flow for him is calling,
The war drums sound in water,
There is a freedom in the falling,
And a glory in the slaughter,

As leaves like compromises,
Fall gently to the earth,
The trees whisper the wises,
Or death, life, and rebirth,

He’ll go to lake so still,
And watch her rippling skin,
The lakes lady has her own will,
For those of flesh, feather or fin.

Her ghost kisses the old shore,
And calls him to the slaughter,
He has seen her face before,
Just beneath the water,