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A White Knight
a triolet
With fires of hope and spirit bright,
who will stand up for what is just
thence set our country all alight
with fires of hope and spirit bright?
A hero true, a great white knight
a person worthy of our trust
with fires of hope and spirit bright
who will stand up for what is just.
.
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Never To Wend This Road Again
Long endless days of fantasies,
dark nights so full of mysteries,
a sheltered life devoid of pain—
Never to wend this road again.
A life, a world, begins to dawn,
the ploys of youth are now all gone,
along with sunshine, there is rain—
Never to wend this road again.
A mind and heart with feelings warm,
emotions now a painful storm,
and lies of love I could not feign—
Never to wend this road again.
Through all the twists and turns of life,
both joyful days and times of strife,
those years long past were not in vain—
Never to wend this road again.
So much, so much, now in the past,
the days now seem to go so fast
that memories begin to wane—
Never to wend this road again.
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Phil S. Rogers is a sixth generation Vermonter, age 72, now retired, and living in Texas. He served in the United States Air Force and had a career in real estate and banking. He previously published Everlasting Glory, a historical work that tells the story of each of the men from Vermont that was awarded the Congressional Medal Of Honor during the Civil War.
Who, indeed? I think today, more than any time in the past, people wouldn’t be able to agree on who qualifies as a hero. We’re always looking for (or creating) feet of clay.
Thanks for two thought-provoking pieces, Phil.
Beautiful poems…I especially enjoyed your triolet.
Phil, “A White Knight” is one of the very best triolets I’ve seen, and I have quite a collection. Each repeated line has a new function in the discourse, each time there is a repetition. This takes thinking. The fire and light images support the thought perfectly. Dealing with a serious subject in a brief form with refrains is taking a risk; this one gives a great payoff.
Your use of a refrain in “Never to Wend” is quite different. This refrain seems to be a static interjection, not really connected with each description of events in the past. Are you striving to deepen an impression that all is past for a speaker who recalls, but can no longer enter into, his prior experiences? The summary stanza with memories beginning to wane suggests as much.