To Kay From Vonne (1989)

To Kay From Vonne

I believe in such things as knights of today,

fortitude, good will and faith,

no dragons have been slain for such homage,

instead the joust lay between invisible foes

the castle has returned to the fairytale,

while racing into daybreak I shout--

"I have found a knight of today!"

with a few puzzled glances from passers-by

we think of knights as staying in our childhood,

wrapped up in an ancient story,

cloaked in ideals no longer worn well--

time having made no delivery to our day

yet our childhood has helped us win our present,

and our swords are drawn for battle,

while fear stands equally for all,

in the end only a knight can triumph

*    *    *

if I walk to the only castle since remembered,

with the towers so high on the hill,

I can still peer through the darkened chambers

and see the knight stepping into armor once more

 (written for a co-worker who was battling cancer, and who eventually perished from it, 1989)