A ballet (machinima) based around my poems.
Full credits are given on the link
minstrel
Girl on the Green (revised)
i saw her on the green
laughing, dancing, she glanced at me
her smile entrancing, soft and warm
i thought i dreamed her face before
like sunlight shining in a glade
all that night i couldn’t sleep
seeing her arms, her hair, her lips
the gentle curve of her hips, her eyes
ah if she would only love me
if i had a treasure house of gold
and a tree where emeralds grew
i would harvest every ounce and go
to give it to her fathers hand
to be allowed to speak alone with her
but what can i, poor minstrel, give
who left all servants and his land
i would be by far the richer man
if she would only love me
the world feels very old to me
though i am but five-and-twenty
emeralds and gold i do not have
but songs i have aplenty
and i would sing them all for her
the world would then be fresher
for she outshines the finest flower
i would give her joy and pleasure
if she could only love me
she dances on the green again
i will take her in the dance for now
turn her, lift her, spin her, hold her.
If luck is kind and favours me
perchance this day I’ll win her.
the world bursts into bud and blossom
the air is filled with scents of May
we will leave this town today
if she will only love me
A Minstrels Art
To the tune of Midnight, performed by Loreena Vacano on Archlute
fortune favours those who strive
in darkness still to see the light
always keeping hope alive
as they journey on the path
though our troubles bring us pain
causing hurt and leaving scars
in time our hearts will heal again
when love is there to make us wise
not in judgement, nor in strife
will we find our perfect dance
with heartstrings tuned we play our song
bringing notes both sweet and strong
that reverberate in harmony to life
all is lovely, all is joy
as we turn and slowly spin
in life’s repeating endless dance
threading out and turning in
spinning dreams and mending all your hearts
The Minstrel
Peering through a mist
parting a veil, dusty webs,
staring back at fate.
I see the entrance vividly,
the exit all too clear
He rode into London in a cavalcade
his lady seated before him, bedazzled by all they saw
exchanging glances with his boisterous brothers
they rode in a merry troupe, loud laughter and youth
lute and tabor, bells and fine embroidery.
They roamed the streets at night
joyful pups in a rainbow of rags and finery
mocking wealth they cocked a snoop at death.
They attracted wide attention.
red ribbons and green
her hair swings in the sunlight
her eyes, her arms, life
Ah! but to stay in the streets and courtyards would have been far wiser.
What does youth know, exuberant, thoughtless, unwitting.
Attention a flattery, alluring.
Beckoned through wider and higher doors
they entered in. Gardens of delight, sweet scents and song
gentle harmless beauty, so it seemed to him.
A peace fell upon him there, he dreamed in poetry.
Darkness approached. The shadow of a cloud on the grass as it crosses that summers sun.
lavender lady
seats herself amongst roses
charming, so disarming
Requests made, favours granted ,
twisted meanings, things not understood,
so many whispers in quiet corridors,
the web of intrigue draws tighter,
he spoke the wrong words too lightly
spilling his thoughts into treacherous ears.
This tale reveals all that was feared.
The shadow of the Tower looms closer.
He longs to leave this city, they will flee at night,
run to the countryside
where the hills are wide and sweeping,
where the willows lean gently
over the Avon weeping.
All too late.
He prays she got away.
dark walls draw inward
music screams loud in the silence
of la oubliette
this is not his final end, the world is too unkind
better to be forgotten than to suffer such a fate
still unsatisfied they dragged him out
it turns and troubles my stomach now
to watch the rest of this
the pain became too great and ceased, he rose
floating high above himself, looking down on horror
seeing things no-one should see
and my pen grows silent, as he fades away in light
red roses spread out
he flies above the woodlands
butterflies of light
The Dreaming Path 