+JMJ
Complete with Unsolicited Authorial NOTES (Needless & Otherwise Tedious Explanatory Stuff) below! Enjoy...
The Raid of the Weigh
By Caitlin Clancy
Copyright 2012
Like thoughts unthinkable
They broke upon the shore
Like steel unbreakable
They swelled the fearsome roar
In salt-waves and the hide
Of lifeless forest beasts
They struck upon the town
And sunk in to their feasts
Revelry waxed raucous
The world began to spin
The new wine soon
Would take its toll
And wrap the night back in
Where lay in sleep
The sober few
Who alone could tell
The exploits and
The solemn still
Of one long ending spell –
Late up came
The midnight moon and
Later yet the dawn,
Where rested in the meadow still
A tawny-golden fawn;
The shouting of the night
Gave place unto the day
Where none were left
Save one weak slave –
The mem’ry of the Weigh.
Notes:
This poem is the story of a town, called the Weigh,
which is raided by Norse or Germanic savages (hence the hides) from the
seacoast (hence the waves). They
take the town and feast all night, and in the morning, only one slave is left
who made it out alive (in my imagination, at least, he’s made it out to the meadow
outside the town), making him the last person who remembers the town and its
people. Hence, he is the “mem’ry
of the Weigh.” Also, the
“one long ending spell” could be a number of things I expect, but I was
thinking primarily of the night of feasting which, though long and perhaps
spell-like to those in it, is ending as dawn approaches. The fawn is just an aid to help convey
the image of the meadow (and, I confess, the meter...).
Cool!! I like the notes they're quite helpful!
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