::: Thirty White Horses :::

thirty white horses will a husband bring
my count as yet be not that high
an' I wonder, be they carven in a hill
do still they be considered a horse?

"chance not to wander far lest pigsies lead you awry
and never again your hearth to harken"
so spake my lady as I hemmed
but then how shall I see horses?

white or no, knights care not for maids
they prefer to be waiting on ladies such as mine
whose etiquette and glittering frocks
could leave one wanting none

or all, with such pretence of glamour
falsities played with demure and delicious delicacy
not to taste, rather ye should count
if such skill you should possess

what man to make a husband
he that follows after so many steeds
what should he think of such a maiden
caught counting animals instead of threads

::: Solitaire :::

red and black

covering my heart
I spend too much time on solitaire

you hate it, I know you do
but it's no deterrent
it won't break my fingers
to keep playing

maybe my king is
beneath that
five

cards pass me by
what's another diamond in my hand?
it won't break my fingers
to keep losing

red and black

another ace
it's not over yet
I might still win this game

I'll try

the queen keeps hiding
I fear at times she will never appear
it won't break my fingers
to keep wanting

the deck unravels
all my suits
feel heavy on my eyelids

red and black

::: Strewn Tower :::

I built a tower on your shaky grounds
no wonder it collapsed
I've others, built on my own land
and they stand tall

many have chosen blindness
in vain hope for protection
and though arrows won't slip through
they're not safe

like jagged teeth
they consume the land
trying to swallow mid-bite
scattered far between the plains

standing tall amid the now-barren fields
there was once grain here
golden and proud it stood in the sun
bowing only to the breeze

but the wind will never hurt me
though it whips through my heart
it can't take my tower
and would never rip it down

but my hands could
who wants to sit in a blind tower
waiting to be attacked
but never knowing it will come

waiting always in fear for the battle
which may not exist
never risking the chance
that you might be able to fight back

for the land is fertile still
it merely lacks the seeds
but to water it with blood
and strewn towers it could grow