Captain

By Cliff Lake

 

Captain

 

A legend,

He rode out of the swirl of time,

And came to a troubled land,

Summoned, as it were,

By a despair borne by many,

When their land was overrun.

 

Black-cloaked and crag-faced,

Not old,

But weighted by long cares.

Town by town he rode,

And with him courage came,

To quicken hearts and make them bold.

 

Straight-backed he strode,

Meeting all with a deep seeing eye.

And though he said little,

Still, behind him men readied,

For he had the bearing of command,

Not a King, but a Captain he was.

 

 So he rode,

And did not look back.

And ever more did follow,

To wrest their land,

From harrowing hands.

The contest would be fierce…

 

The rumor of him went before,

And the raider felt disdain,

For he was many, and savage.

Yet still he gathered on the battle plain,

To meet this Captain,

And have done.

 

Thus the marauder arrayed himself,

Upon the battlefield.

And in his pride he gloated,

In the little resistance he had yet met,

Only to quail at the sight of the Captain,

With the whole of the land with him.

 

To his credit, the bulk of him did not run,

And fought with ferocity.

But before night was fell, he was bested,

And with a tenth of his force remaining he fled,

And were hunted and caught and warned,

Against the thought of return.

 

Then the people sought their Captain,

But heard only talk of him,

First seen here, then there,

But all that was found after,

Was a broken spear ground-thrust,

And a black cloak draped over.

 

The old ones talk of him in reverent tone,

Though his description changes from each.

And the young believe less each day,

In a Captain who led and left with no word,

Yet still listen for hoofbeats thundering,

Out of the swirl of time.

 

Cliff Lake 12/26/2023

Copyright © Clifford Lake 2023

Location: Dalton, MA, USA

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