Silent Annie

A song which nearly broke my heart
A tramp lay dying in the park.
I knelt beside him to hear him speak
And the words he spoke, they were oh so weak.
He told me a story of long since past,
Of a sailing ship with its long gray mast,
Of his captain’s cap with it’s shining braid
And the wonderful voyages that he’d made.
“Silent Annie” was his great ship’s name.
Like a token of love he spoke her name.
She sailed ’round the Horn, aye, more that once.
She could cut through the waves like a sharpened lance.

“Believe me,” he said. His eyes filled with tears
Like a drunk on a corner, trying to remember his years.
He reached out his hand and I took it in mine.
“I believe you,” I said, and he gave a sad smile.
“I remember the day when they towed her away.
Her sides they were sore from the sea’s angered spray.
They said she’s unfit for to sail out once more
And they towed her more inward from her own sandy shore
And as they broke my Silent Annie. I watched with a sigh.
I remembered her beauty when I was a boy.
She was my one love, my life’s only dream,
When we sailed out together as captain and queen.”

It started to drizzle, and I felt my hand tight
And he squeezed even harder as he ended the fight.
And a crowd they had gathered, and they watched with dismay
As some ambulance men came, and they took him away.
So I got to my feet, and I walked through that park.
The sun it was gone, but it was not yet dark.
My body was wet, and my clothes were not many,
But my mind was aroused by the ship Silent Annie.

The Ballad of the Last Knight

By Craig Langley

In the epochs of past there were always tales
Of knights off to battle in ships with sails
Full of wind that guided them to the fields
Where swords and axes splintered the shields
Of heroes fighting for kith and kin
And homesteads where families had always been.
Men to idolize and adore
While lamenting not being born in the years before.
To join them at their side as they rode
To battles with their convictions to uphold.
Over distant mountain tops
And through deep lakes where the tiny frog hops.
Arriving at unknown towns where a traveler might
Find a meal and a place to spend the night.
Then when the fighting was done
After enemies had retreated in a run
With swords washed in blood
And boots caked in mud,
To begin the journey towards home
Where loved ones now safely roam.
No such tales can now be told
For there are no more heroes daring and bold
Nor even men with hearts full of the passions
Needed to defeat today’s wicked fashions.
Sodom is now rebuilt and flourishing year round
As every sin dances unbound
To the applause of vices newly discovered
And the whimpers of virtues gagged and smothered.
Lechers, vipers, and filth of every kind
Dropping coins drunk and blind
During entertainments of the most decadent device
That even allure the most righteous to entice
The inner beast in every man’s heart
That desires to go where no conscience would chart.
Please listen to my words hear and now
As I tell the story of the last Knight who wouldn’t bow
Before a world descended into sin
And who died defending his kith and kin.
His journey began in the frozen lands
Of the north where snow and ice hold hands
As they cover the lands in a white spell,
Lands where the Knights ancient people dwell.
Then came the day when the madness
Finally arrived and created great sadness
In the heart of the Knight for he knew
This madness went wherever the Southern Winds blew.
Corruption, envy, violence and so much more
Had finally arrived at his people’s shore.
A sense of duty arose within the Knight’s heart
And he finally knew he must embark
On an adventure to the South
And close this wind’s cursed mouth.
He set sail on a ship in the harbor near town,
Waving goodbye to loved ones with a frown,
His children so small, beautiful, and kind
With their mother, his love, a rare angel to find.
On that day he set sail the sun was out,
The waters were calm, and gulls flew about.
Sailors sang in chorus to their work
As the captain look down at them with a smirk.
Hoisting the top sails
With a tune resembling drunken wails,
“Oh listen to me, ye dogs of the sea,
Join in this song of men with me,
We work, we play, we sweat, we bleed,
Join this song, this song of the sea!”
Weeks passed in their seamen’s tune
And the Knight felt it must be soon.
Then the winds blew stronger
And the cold chilled them longer.
The sea’s foam, salty and white,
Splashed on deck with greater might.
The waves rose higher and higher
And the sailor’s fears grew dyer and dyer.
Finally a night came that wouldn’t go
As if the sun never again would show,
That cursed night that wouldn’t leave,
Wouldn’t give their souls a moments reprieve.
The sky was violently torn asunder
By blazing lighting with hellish thunder
That exploded in their ears like a fired cannon
Which caused their courage to abandon
Them in this moment of need
When they needed to act with greatest speed.
The captain hollered across the deck
For every man to his post to prevent a wreck.
No song arose from their quivering throats,
Only prayers to the Lord in sorrowful notes.
To Christ in Heaven they called above,
Clamoring for salvation from His eternal love.
Atop the mast the look-out cried
A message to which every man’s spirit died!
“Fire! Fire in the sea! Look afar ye dogs!
Fire riding the waves through the Devil’s fogs!”
On the port side, for all there to see
Was a sight that never could be!A great mass of fog glowing red and burning,
Lead by flames swimming over every wave turning.
No stars shined in the blackness of that night,
Only a crimson moon that was a ghoulish sight.
“He dead! He’s dead! The captain is killed!”
Screamed a voice of fear distilled.
There he lay in a bloody pool,
His nose bit off, his eyes torn out, among other crimes so cruel
Not even a rabid dog would have been so vicious,
Only those creatures believed by the superstitious.
Terror spread across the ship with every breath,
Fate they screamed had marked them for death.
Suddenly out of the shadows came the beasts
Who on human flesh do feast!
Ugly demons from the pits of Hell
Who acted as if the screams were their dinner bell.
The Knight drew his sword and slew those near
As he attempted to conquer his fear.
The fog of flames drew nearer and nearer,
Making its evil clearer and clearer
For within it were atrocities never saw,
Atrocities so hideous and raw
That the Knight stared on in terror
For was his quest a useless error?
Was evil too great that would hunt him down
And in this sea he would drown?
Would it stop this last crusader of what’s right,
Crush him with all the corrupt world’s might?
On he fought determined to go
And destroy where the Southern Winds blow.
The ship crashed in the sea, the corpses thrown about,
Their blood drank like tea; this was the end no doubt.
One final crash of the waves and the Knight was thrown in the air,
Landing in the sea, swimming to the surface he watched in unbroken stare
As the ship was consumed by the fog that night,
Oh to have seen the horrible sight!
The ship blazing in flame
As the last of the sailors end finally came.
The crimson moon swirled in the sky
As the stars revealed themselves and floated by,
The souls of the dead ascending to the Lord,
Their redemption for their sins that Christ deplored.
The ship was gone, not a board remained,
Only the ravaged corpses of sailors maimed,
Their blood had dyed the waves the crimson of the moon
And the Knight felt his time would be soon.
A mighty wave threw him away
Just as the night was breaking and beginning a new day,
Unconsciousness took him as he sank in the sea,
His battle lost before it came to be.

II

Dawn! The jovial Spring of the day
That revives all spirits whatever may
Have occurred the night before
And heals all flesh tired and sore.
The waves crashed on the rocks
As gulls sang chorus in flocks
Up way in the sky,
Creating music of a spiritual high.
Crash! Crash! sounded the instruments of blue,
Strumming a harmony that can only do
A battered soul in need of peace
After a death-grip just released.
The Knight awakened from the beach where he slept,
His blond hair mangled and unkept,
His blue eyes reflected the sea,
Amazed at how it could be
That his fair skin covered in sand
Had somehow made it to land.
Images loomed large in his mind
But none of them wanted, gentle, or kind.
Companions attacked, tortured, and dead;
Devoured by Hell when all was said.
The Knight looked out at the ocean he had crossed
As under his feet the surf broke and tossed,
The ocean breeze caressed his handsome face,
A face inherited from generations of his race.
Behind lay the lands he awaited,
The lands where his destiny was fated.
Off he set for the lands unknown
From where the Southern Winds were blown.
Across the grassy plain he walked,
Listening to the animals as they talked:
In packs the antelopes sped
From the predators whom they fed.
Immersed in the mud, hippos cooled from the sun
And steeds raced for the greatest fun.
Amid the tall grass came the cries of birth
As another creature took its place on Earth.
Onward the Knight went till he began to tire
Then he made camp and built a fire.
He laid still but could not sleep
Because of the sounds of night that creep.
All night long his alertness tried to remain
Until the world of dreams finally came.
Dreams of back home, in his land of birth
Where family lived in joyous mirth.
Beautiful winters of snow flakes falling
And holiday songs merrily calling.
Castles of ice built for display,
Eventually destroyed by children’s mischievous play.
Dancing across frozen lakes with his love
While God shined down on them from above.
Crush! Crush!-something moves within the high grass!
Breaking his dreams and awaking fast,
The Knight readies himself for any beast
For he will be no animal’s feast!
Closer and closer it came,
The Knight’s determined face shining in flame.
A boy! A small boy! Walking in the night,
Observing the Knight without any fright.
His skin! It is fair just the same
And his eyes! Not wild but tame!
“Hello there lad…”
Said the Knight with all the curiosity he had.
“Hello there sir…” responded the boy,
The same tongue! What a moment of joy!
The Knight followed the boy through the night,
Hoping their meeting might
Lead him to a place to stay,
To keep him from becoming jungle prey.
As morning came and the sun began to rise,
The Knight couldn’t believe what he saw with his eyes;
A thriving center of commerce and trade
Where being sold was every craft made!
Into the town he hurried and walked,
Stopping at everyone for a talk.
Throughout the day the Knight’s spirits were revived
As he explored this newfound town at which he arrived.
That night he listened and learned
How the history of these people had turned.
They had come from the North, just like him
And had set out to explore all of Earth’s rim.
Centuries ago this had occurred
And since then living here undisturbed.
Cultivating the land and building the town
While battling spirits usually down.
Decades and decades of hard labor
And battle after battle of bloody saber.
They had started explorers and settlers they became,
Creating a country never again the same.
But not all was pleasant in this land of theirs
For they knew the Southern Winds and in their prayers
They asks the Lord’s protection from this dread
Which had taken from them so many dead.
All hope had been lost after many fights
Which created many sleepless nights.
The Knight, his courage, was now hot as fire,
Seeing these folks in a situation so dire.
They were his people as well,
Common in outer shell
And brothers in blood,
Despite being scattered as if after the Flood.
When the morning sun cast its light long
And the crickets concluded their nightly song,
The Knight rode out to conquer his foe,
To the Southern Winds he would strike a deadly blow.

III

Riding forth for days on his quest
To the mouth of the Southern Winds to test
His strength, his courage, and his faith
Against an evil whether man, beast, or wraith.
The sun of the plains is brutal and cruel
And gives no quarter to any fool
Who attempts to test his might
Against its rays of scorching light.
Cooling night at last made its presence known
As a full moon brightly shown.
“It couldn’t be!” exclaimed the Knight
In a terrible fright
For he had seen such a sight
That petrified all his might.
The moon had been cut!Perfectly clean across but
That was not all that came;
Exploding in the sky a stream of flame,
Its red burst illuminating the stars,
Everyone, whether near or afar.
The gigantic beast with outspread wings,
Its roar thundering the song that sings
Of death to those that may
Attack and attempt to slay
The beast flying across the moon
And one the Knight would battle soon.
Following its trail of fire across the night,
He watched the creature with the closest sight.
Just then! Just then! Evil overcame him:
Lust, greed, and spite without a whim
Of all the things for which he stood against before,
Those dark things he craved increasingly more.
The beast! It was the carrier of the decay,
The messenger of sin, the symbol of all that betray.
A struggle ensued within the Knight’s soul,
Between the light and dark, whose outcome took a heavy toll
As the Knight slept deeply, recovering from his victory
Over the forces that cause eternal misery.
At daybreak the Knight picked up the trail
And started the final chapter of his tale.
Hours on horseback before he started reeling
From the Southern Winds destructive feeling.
Before him stood a mountain pass
Without water, trees, or simplest grass,
Only jagged rocks broken and bare,
He had come to where no man before dare.
The ground started shaking causing rocks to fall
And his horse ran off despite every call.
A roar strangled his courage to its last breath
And he felt soon would come his death.
Emerging from behind a barren peak
Was the beast the Knight did seek.
Smoked billowed from its nose
As its enormous neck it rose,
It’s thick, armored skin was brown as the earth,
Within its eyes there had never been mirth.
It looked down on the Knight in disgust
And then these word its deep voice did thrust,
“Who are you before me?
Who is this pest that I see?
Answer me you pathetic bug,
Before I crush you with the slightest shrug!”
The Knight had no answer or anything to ask,
He merely stared ahead at his monumental task.
The beast became enraged at the silence,
Insulted by the Knight’s defiance.
Rearing back to prepare for his kill
And the Knight readied for this final thrill.
With all his strength the beast unleashed hellish flame,
But the Knight remained unmoved by all that came.
Fire drenched every inch of his armor, toes to his head,
Defiantly holding his sword, ready to join the dead.
The stream of flame from the beast came like a raging river,
But again the Knight defiantly did not quiver.
His strength beginning to fail and sight starting to fade,
The Knight with all that was left made
The final blow against the beast Fate had shown,
His final move for sailor’s deaths he must atone.
Reaching back his arm in that fire-lake of Hell
As if under a supernatural spell,
Hurled his sword at the beast
Before its fiery attack had ceased.
That blade of flames dug deep in its skin,
Returning the fire that had been
Unleashed on the Knight in wrath,
But now drowned the beast in a fiery bath!
Wild, it cried in pain!
Wild, it was now insane!
Its body engulfed in a fiery purge,
The end had come for this devilish scourge.
Back into its lair it fled with shrieks,
Back into its lair between the peaks.
The earth then shook with a violent rumble
And all the peaks began to tumble.
Down came boulders from the mountain
And the Southern Wind no longer blew for certain.
Amid the shaking and shifting ground bed,
Laid the Knight, victorious but dead.
The deaths of the sailors had been redeemed
And his homeland now safer than it ever seemed.
No longer would the Southern Winds torture his folk,
No longer on evil would the innocent choke.
That was the tale of the last gallant Knight,
Who fought for what he thought was right.
No one today lives up to his deed,
Afraid to challenge today’s corrupting creed.
But secretly in the hearts of those
That keep quiet but who knows
That the wicked liars have no right
To justify their ungodly might.
In the hearts of those men the Knight has a place,
In the hearts of the brave men of his race.

Hat tip to the Caucasian Literary Review.