Crusader’s Return

This exile –
self-imposed, I confess –
wears thin with age.

Too many winters
braving the cold –
heart’s frozen rebellion
against Father’s tireless raving,
Mother’s queenly submission.

So many moons
engaged in a crusade –
armed with but a hollow sword –
the chill of time lapsed,
irretrievable.

Castle lights are waning,
death lingers in the air,
and only now, on this fateful
periphery, do I wonder –
measure the rage against costs –
blame’s righteousness builds
only walls – faults corpses
rotting either side.

Empty-handed, I approach,
cowed by the enormity of task –
bearing no gifts, no legacy –
only a paltry offering
of forgiveness – pray
I am not too late.

(Image provided by Willow Poetry as her weekly challenge:  What Do You See?  Also linking up with Frank  at the dVerse pub, whose theme tonight is blame and forgiveness.  Ragtag Community’s prompt is fault.)

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VJ

Permission to write, paint, and imagine are the gifts I gave myself when chronic illness hit - a fair exchange: being for doing. Relevance is an attitude. Humour essential.

37 thoughts on “Crusader’s Return”

  1. Pingback: What do you See? Roundup Feb/26/2019 | Willow Poetry

  8. What is it about human nature that allows us to waste entire lifetimes seeking justification, and only when faced with sure death, do we resort to forgiveness? if at all? Beautifully said VJ.

    Liked by 1 person

  9. What a poem V. J! I felt it picked from the hills of a war ravaged land. There’s a deeper story beneath this tale. When one has been in war or battle for a cause that slowly becomes shaky and misunderstood, forgiveness is sought with much humility.

    Liked by 1 person

  10. I enjoyed your poem of the prodigal’s return, V.J., which could be part of a longer epic poem. I want to know what has happened in the years between leaving and returning to the castle. And why the self-imposed exile? What caused Father’s tireless raving? Will the king and queen be forgiving?

    Liked by 1 person

  14. I love the story of the crusader’s return, bearing no gifts but an offering of forgiveness. I too wonder at the cost of those fights and really like your retelling:

    blame’s righteousness builds
    only walls – faults corpses
    rotting either side.

    Liked by 1 person

  15. Fervent offering V.J., forgiveness is an enormous gift!!
    Your poem brought up tears for me, you have turned your soul inside out through these words.

    Liked by 2 people

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