Blood red blooms with foliage green,
Dancing, bowing in the air.
Paint an image so serene
The sweetest scarlet lady fair.
Meadows, fields of floral show
To the landscape, briefly lent;
Come to me where here I grow ~
Lie with me amongst my scent.

Blood red blooms in golden light
Smiling skyward t'ward the blue;
Morning comes with evening's flight
As sunbeams start the day anew.
Gaze on me, peruse my poise,
Enjoy my sanguine, wooing charm;
Hear me sing, consume my noise ~
Lie with me amongst the calm.

Blood red blooms, as crisp as crêpe,
In proudly blazed eccentric rows;
Form their rouge unbounded drape
Where their seed chose to appose.
Here within a rural sea
Swimming, floating as a shoal;
Immerse your being, set you free ~
Lie with me and bathe your soul.

Blood red blooms of poppies gay,
Battling in a wind so strong;
Sent to blow them all away
And sweep their countenance along.
Blood red hues ~ now black as hell,
The winds of war have caused them weep;
Stay you here, this field you fell ~
Lie with me and soundly sleep.

Sir 'enry Shay, the noble knight,
Bestride his charger Bess,
Befell upon a sadly sight ~
A damsel in distress.

Despairing in the forest she
Morosely wept and sobbed;
Tied tethered to a chestnut tree
As she was being robbed.

Sir 'enry drew his tempered blade
And fought off robbers four.
Swish-swashing, buckling, till he laid
Them hapless on the floor.

"My hero" then my lady cried
"I'll marry you this day!
And be your wife, your faithful bride
To honour and obey".

But when she smiled, her eyes aglow,
He found she had no teeth;
As naught dwelt in the upper row
And not-a-one beneath.

There again her nose was pointed,
A moustache grew within;
M'lady's jowl had been disjointed
About her double chin.

Sir 'enry then bethought his lot
And sparked a canny plan.
Regardful of Sir Lancelot
Who shrewdly cut and ran.

The gallant knight would flee the glen
And beat a fleet retreat;
The better part of valour, then,
Was oh to be discreet.

Sir 'enry deemed he should be gone
Upon his trusty steed.
He coaxed a nudge that spurred her on
And galloped off at speed.

The moral of the story, where
Accordance looms a must,
When e'er you save a damsel fair
Pray leave her bound and trussed.

When all the words a king may say
Lay lifeless on the ground
And windstorms blow them far away
With not a single sound.
Then no one any worry pays
As acquiescence he seeks
But ears awake and eyebrows raise
When e'er the cannon speaks.

She speaks to warriors from the east
And armies from the south.
And words of wisdom should, at least,
Fall tumbling from her mouth.
And when she sings, she hums her song,
Her voice in dulcet choir,
She whispers from her dragon's tongue
Her words like dragon's fire.

So, in the night when all is still
She rests her weary head
And looks out over yonder hill
Where angels fear to tread.
As daylight shows once more, she'll preach
And boldly yip and yell
To sermonise another speech
And send them all to hell.

You are alike to a fine paper rose
Perfectly crafted, scarlet and snow white.
Within your eyes the paper rosebud grows
Sanguine and bright, the most beauteous sight.

A petal of white ~ A petal of red
Blend into pink as they shamelessly blush.
Colours of you, how they go to my head,
Remind me of summer, sun kissed and lush.

My paper rose crinkles, held in my palm;
So softly, gently the sound greets my ears.
Retarding my heartbeat ~ tranquilly calm,
As soft as raindrops ~ god's heavenly tears.

Flower of nature must die heretofore
Flower of paper may live evermore.

A gentle hand upon my skin
To balm my sleeping soul within
A fragile brushing 'gainst my face
Adorns my soul with air and grace.
The kindest, mildest, tender touch
Subdues my soul to mind too much
The quaver of my joyful heart
As all my anguish blows apart.
And in the fluent light of morn
A freshness in my soul, reborn,
Where thoughts bygone, should I partake,
May kiss my brow as I awake.

Whereas the evening filters through
To bring the darkness seeping down.
The daylight's leave now overdue
High above a slumbering town.

To bring the darkness seeping down
As the north wind starts its blowing;
High above the slumbering town
Night time shadows start their showing.

As the north wind starts its blowing
Round and around deserted ways.
Night time shadows start their showing
There under, eerie phantoms gaze.

Round and around deserted ways
Within the blackest, darkest night
There under, eerie phantoms gaze
Misleading by subdued moonlight.

Within the blackest, darkest night
The daylight's leave now overdue;
Misleading by subdued moonlight
Whereas the evening filters through.

I saw a ghost out on the land
By the light of day.
Holding out a guiding hand
With just one hour to stay.
I had no fear to walk with him
The quiet waters by;
As calmly traipsing, on a whim,
We talking, he and I.

We spoke of things, of this and that,
And every now and then
He'd smile a smile and raise his hat
When passing other men.
Though no one seemed to see his face
And no one seemed to care
No one saw him  ~  not a trace  ~
No one saw him there.

As time passed by, we reached the gate,
The path its each way went.
And as the hour was ebbing late
Our time together spent.
He stared at me, I smiled at he,
My aged self loomed clear
To here and there the paths would be
As he went there, I here.