(Written for Fed Poets Society Meeting June 2023 held at Overhill - monthly theme was 'Danger')
Danger
A boy and girl in meadows play,
Where grows the sweet cowslip,
In childish innocence she plants
A kiss upon his lip.
Years pass ‘til comes a day,
That youth for war must leave,
She briefly takes him by the hand,
Her fingers brush his sleeve.
In darkest night the warriors march,
Where bound they do not know,
Yet staunchly face their fear down,
Confront an unseen foe.
Cruelly ambushed in a pass,
The enemy attacks,
Caught unawares, their losses great,
Not one for courage lacks.
In ranks, before the battle starts,
Awaiting the advance,
The soldiers think on life and death,
Yet none give backward glance.
As all around the dying scream,
He steps through blood and gore,
And never once does think to break,
The soldier’s oath he swore.
Laughing at danger, he strikes the foe,
Whose number is untold,
Against all odds, he wins the day,
Is named a hero bold.
When peace, at last, comes to the land,
Our hero does return,
Once more unto the life he knew,
For which his heart does yearn.
As he draws nearer to his home,
He thinks on his old friend,
And hopes once more, in simple play,
That they their days may spend.
But when he sees her from afar,
Strange doubts upset his plan,
For she is now a woman grown,
And he is now a man.
So, when he comes before her there,
And falls beneath her gaze,
He feels a fear he has not known
Before, in all his days.
In truth the danger in her eyes
Is not to be ignored,
For truly he is smitten thus
And by her beauty floored.
It seems his limbs will not obey,
He stands transfixed and still,
As if some supernatural power
Has robbed him of his will.
That moment passed, he made to speak,
I hope I’ll not offend,
If, dear listener, I ask you,
To write this story’s end.
For sure, the love betwixt two souls
May oft by storms be blown.
Yet they who dare not to commit,
Are doomed to life alone!
