I saw Arthur riding

[rhian_crockett]

I still love playing with villanelles, even though I haven't been writing much of late, and even though poetry isn't exactly my forte.

I'm going to stop using flattr, at least for now; I've earned very little from it, which I know is my own fault for not posting very much or getting involved with other bloggers and writers. Still, if you appreciate my work, I'm a little strapped for cash right now and £3.40 would get me the bus fare for anywhere in my fair city...

The Immortal Days of Camelot

I saw Arthur riding, with his banner flying and his head held high,
When he was young, and I was a simple farmer's boy,
And it seemed war was glorious, and that Arthur and his men could never die.

The queen was tall and gracious and met everyone's eye,
And Camelot was tall and fair and full of joy,
And I saw Arthur riding, with his banner flying and his head held high.

The old kings rose up and challenged him, and they came riding by,
And Arthur rode to meet them and end their treacherous ploy,
And it seemed war was glorious, and that Arthur and his men could never die.

The queen stood accused of treason, and her death was nigh,
Her pyre built; her sins like that woman of Troy.
Still I saw Arthur riding, with his banner flying and his head held high.

And I saw Lancelot riding too, saw his greyed face and heard him sigh,
And he said the queen's name, and swore her enemies he'd destroy.
Yet still it seemed war was glorious, and that Arthur and his men could never die.

And I was the one who left fair England, serving Arthur as a spy,
Told him of Mordred's treason. And there, no longer a boy,
I saw Arthur riding, with his banner flying and his head held high;
Could it seem then that war was glorious, and that Arthur and his men would never die?


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