The Balladeer
Guess who stands before you packed
Ready to travel with one desire lacking
Waiting for the sorry machine of any heart
To grant a legendary fool his one last card
Who would believe you, who would even try to
Erase the shadows of glowing towers where you
Never blessed the clattering voice there
Where stood the nemesis of mocking care
Or would you speak forgiveness
Would you forget my green eyes
Would you forget my errors, my
Notions of terrible crimes behind thrones
Memories of sexually transmitted bones
Harrows of sanded time running down
Curses of the cancer-wounded hounds
Voyages to the center of the aimless book
Encryptions on the palm of every crook-
Ed bodhisattva counting crimes
Would you forget my green eyes
Would you forget my errors, my
Worship of nothing holy in your eye
Grief for every sentimental holy sigh
Care for every crawling creature even
Sparing the frightened evening friend
Of childhood evaporating in your mind
Of copper pens inked with blackest brine
Of sorrows wasted on any soul’s carapace
Of wine-soaked linoleum and time wasted
Or would you sail home alone
Or would you sail home
Without me
(This kind-of ballad is dedicated to all songsters soon forgotten.)
October 2017
Drawing & poem © R Young
studio arago 