Enjoy these poems and please email the poets (where applicable) and give them some feedback!

RUSTY KNIGHT

Helmet nothing but a Dent, 
Torn, Ragged, Old Knight,
Spirit Worn, Hope Bent,
Not an inspiring sight.

Call me Rusty,
My Breastplate, dinged and split,
Campaigned, Dusty,
Chainmail, ragged and rent.

But what my eyes have seen
The battles borne, the body scarred.
And where I've been,
The rifts, rents I've fixed, darned.

Yes my eyes are hard
My lips thin
Laugh lines my countenance marred,
Yes, I've loved now and then.

My Sword nicked but straight,
The scabbard plain.
I've borne anger, and survived hate,
Tears shed, hidden in the rain.

I've walked and felt the cold,
Endured heat,
And, yes, I feel so damned old.
But my heart, still it beats.

A Rusty, Tired, Old Knight,
Campaigned and wise,
I am not a great grand sight.
But I've seen the sunrise.

Rusty, Tired, Rock Steady,
Here I stand,
Wait by me, for I am ready.
Here, take my hand.

Helmet nothing but a dent,
The Breatplate dinged and split.
But the Heart inside is not spent,
Beating loving, never ever quit.

Shaun Cecil aka CASII (c) unteteunbois@usa.net
===========================================

KNIGHT AND DRAGON

It was a time
Of dreams, anger and war,
It was a time
Of courage, cowards and folklore.

A Dragon walked
And flew about the world
And when he talked
Tongues of flames about him curled.

His scales were hard
And encased about his girth
Gems glittered, at guard
O'er his heart, bragging his worth.

This Dragon, 
Old, cunning and malevolent,
Rapacious, leviathan,
Killed, maimed, ate, wherever he went.

On a rampage,
He would destroy and pillage
In a joyful rage,
Any and every innocent village.

In his shadow,
All trembled, feared and shook,
Against him none would battle,
He came, they gave, and he took.

Then one day;
There came a decrepit Knight,
Leading a broken backed bay.
such a strange, sorry odd sight.

Helmet dinged and bent,
Battered, banged, rusty and holed,
Chain mail tattered and rent,
Joints creaky, breastplate dull, old.

His helm removed,
Each now could clearly see,
A face lined and grooved,
Eyes hard, nose crooked as could be.

His voice dry and broken,
And His hands were gnarled and knotty,
But when he had spoken,
It was plain he was brave and doughty.

In his simple way,
He told of His princess he served,
And swore to obey.
And they knew he loved her by his word.

This simple rusty Knight,
Dusty, determined, tired, nonchalant,
So convinced of his might,
Was here to battle, such a foolish gallant.

A bundle of hay,
And a cup of water, he asked,
Just enough for today,
He said as the reigns he did grasp.

So away with the bay,
With a strange limping stride,
Onward their way,
Knight and Dragon to collide.

There was silence for a day,
Not a thing move, not a thing wavered
None knew what to say
But they all knew who they favored.

Then from the east
With the rising of the sun,
Came the bellowing of the beast
And the people knew the battle had begun.

Smoke on the horizon grew and boiled,
Dust and debris flew in the air,
And the ground writhed, shook and roiled,
The peoples voices lifted in prayer.

Grain by grain the sand fell,
Two thousand and eight hundred eighty 
Snickering in an hourglass well,
Time in progression, constant, endlessly.

Suddenly silence,
An irksome, eerie sound,
As if all the violence,
Had disappeared, drowned.

And from the east,
With his strange limping stride,
And the head of the beast,
Mounted, tied on the bay to ride,

He walked to the crowd
Proudly bowing, he then said,
In a voice ringing loud,
"The Dragon is Dead!"

That Old Rusty Knight,
Suddenly leaned and sat in the dirt,
Worn, wounded in the fight,
Battered, burnt, tattered and hurt.

Blood from his side, 
Glazed darkly a gem tipped tusk,
Deeply broken inside,
And evil, corrupted, Dragon cusp.

With a strangled gasp
The Wounded Worn Ragged Knight,
Pulls and with the hiss like an asp,
He pluck'd it and held it glittering in the light.

Noticed on the very end,
Of that corrupted and evil Dragon tip
Glinting, intended to rend,
A Diamond, set there to tear and rip.

The bloodied side now sealed,
The Knight raised again to his feet,
Only a grimace revealed
His pain, his agony it was so fleet.

This Dragon tusk in hand
Shall be graven and bound in gold,
The Diamond polished and on a band,
Set on velvet for my Princess to behold.

And now it's done,
I've Killed the Dragon Beast,
With this Diamond I've won
This battle, and her heart, at least.

Shaun Cecil aka CASII (c) unteteunbois@usa.net

===========================================

PRINCESS

How do you tell
The world your dream?
Do you stand and yell?
Or merely beam?

Let me tell you of 
A great grand glorious sight,
Beautiful as heaven above
To this Tired Rusty Knight.

Hair fair as gold,
Eyes blue as morning sky,
Mouth warm and bold,
Gentle as a loving sigh.

Touch as gentle
As a sparrows flight,
Laughter soft as a snowy mantle
On New Year's night.

And with a word
She commands my heart,
Leaping outward,
Quivering as a bullseyed dart.

I know
Without fear of any night
That I will go
Proudly, this Tired Rusty Knight.

To see my Princess
High above watching from a hill,
Her regal gaze upon us,
My love grows, til my soul it does fill.

Me a Tired Rusty Knight
And the Princess, my glorious grand sight,
I will ever stand and fight.
Till for her, I am overcome by the night.

Shaun Cecil aka CASII (c) unteteunbois@usa.net

===========================================

E'VENS CASTLE

Out on the borders
Lonely men watch ceaselessly ever,
Knights known as Warders,
Protecting, guarding, waiting maybe forever.

On the border high
Alone, He sits on a stone,
List'ning to the wind whine by,
Waiting, thinking, planning, alone.

Suddenly the horns sound
His face grim, eyes hard,
Ears pricked, like an old warhound,
Tensed, nerves tuned, thrumming wound.

A messenger stands bowing,
He is tired, dusty, ridden hard and long,
His message he is knowing,
Will open the chords of deaths song.

"E'ven Castle fell!"
The Knight's face shows sudden anguish,
"The Princess in a dungeon Hell,
Sentenced there forever to languish."

With one Breath
He Shouts, A Cry, ringing o'er the border
"Come! Arise, Lets,
Gird for Battle, for War! All ye Warders!"

Ten thousand from the border
Arise, Arise, and ride to E'vens Castle
Each a Knight, each a Warder,
Each knowing surely to death in battle.

Foam flecked,
Onward ride the Knights
Armor dented, Rust specked,
Their Princess' banner blowing in their sight.

E'ven Castle below,
On the hill above they gather,
A ragged, tattered show,
Worn, tired horses all a lather.

Laughter floats upwind,
From the walls an evil horde cavorts,
And on the drawbridge death beckoned,
Ranks on files, hundred thousand of the hordes cohorts.

He rides before the wall,
Stares at the horde and demands release,
Of E'ven Castle and all
Held captive, and the Horde can leave in peace.

Laughter breaks out,
Even among the Ranks and files,
Arrows mingle now with the shouts
Flinging thru the air, the Rusty Knight smiles.

Arm raised high,
The Knights enmass strike hard
They must press and pass by,
Afore the drawbridge raised and the way barred.

Blood and gore,
Hearts and lives spends,
And so much more,
But onward they go, a Princess depends.

Into the moat
The ranks and file fall,
No time to gloat,
This victory not sweet but bitter gall.

Twelve by twelve
Of the greatest and the best
Knights strode down to hell,
Putting lives, love, loyalty to the test.

Blood slicked floor,
Nocked swords, clanging, cutting flesh,
Back to back to the Princess' door,
Opened, and the sight of Her, spirits refresh.

Up from hell they fought,
Arms tired, doughty, stalwart Knights
Grunting, pushing, they wouldn't be stopped,
Till the Princess was out of the dark and into the light.

Twelve by twelve
Was the greatest of the best,
Descended in to hell,
Forty fell, earning eternal rest.

In the palace yard
Stands the Rusty Knight,
Ordering, arranging the Princess' guards,
And calmly directing the fight.

Away to the Border,
He told the remaining twelve,
They bowed to his order,
And the Princess to her horse they helped.

Their eyes locked,
One last time, they both knew,
He slapped her horse before she balked,
He raised his sword, "I served and loved you!"

Shaun Cecil aka CASII (c) unteteunbois@usa.net

===========================================

KNIGHT'S END

Helmet rust stained dented,			
Breastplate split,					
Broken Spirit, hope went,				
Hands gnarled, nails bit;				

Eyes stare into space,				
Mouth a frown,					
Pain wreaks havock marrs his face.			
On a blood spattered ground.			

His sword broken,					
Shield cloven,						
Not a word is spoken,				
But a spell is woven.					

A spell of dispair					
Of fear, hate,					
A warning, all beware,				
Afore it's to late.					

Blackness is coming
Light is waning,
The end beginning
Death naming.

He stands alone now
On a field of death,		
And he wonders when, not how
He will draw his last breath.

The hordes again appear,
And now a smile 
Spreads from one ear to ear,
And he swallows bitter bile.

He hefts his shattered sword,
Straightens battered helm,
His voice raised in violent word,
He waits for them.

Helmet battered and bent,
Hearts life about to spend,
Eyes upward, prayer said, spent,
Such is the Knight's end.

Shaun Cecil aka CASII (c) unteteunbois@usa.net

===========================================

KNIGHT'S REQUIEM

One hundred and four
Knights rode together,
Forty less than was before.
Faces grim and bitter.

To the border they were sent
Now the Princess saved
Tattered, torn, tired, spirits worn and bent,
An Awesome price they paid.

E'ven Castle lost and gone,
Their leader left behind,
In the grips of an evil dawn,
Without hopethis time.

On the border goes up the chant,
Thru the valleys and the land,
All people hurry, don't say can't,
Come to me, I demand!

The Princess rides before them, leading.
Hundreds of thousand came,
Responding, following and heeding,
The call in her name.

To E'vens Castle they go,
To surround, to kill.
No Mercy, none offered they know,
Hot blood only can pay this bill.

Catapults, engines of destruction,
Archers, farmers, girls,
Knights, all people with gumption
Before them a Pinion unfurls.

E'ven Castle now surrounded,
Hundreds thousand grim,
Look down with hate unbounded,
The Princess asks for Him.

Give to us the Rusty Knight,
She calls,
But the horde just laughs, and cavorts in her sight,
With jeers and catcalls.

Then comes an object over the wall,
And lands at her feet,
Rolling, bouncing like a metal ball,
Sightless eyes stare and greet.

Anger fills her heart, her blood runs cold--
She stoops and picks up the head,
Cradles it to her bosom, and feels so damned old;
It's to hard to believe Rusty Knight is dead.

A rising wail of anguish,
A chant of hate,
And fire balls fly out with a swish,
Revenge for Rusty's fate.

Fire balls fly like a meteor shower,
And the Horde howl, cry,
E'ven Castle burns, is on Fire,
Rusty Knight's funeral pyre.

Hundeds thousand for a funeral Mass,
Rusty Knight's Requiem,
And until the end of time shall pass,
He served his Princess, believe him.

Shaun Cecil aka CASII (c) unteteunbois@usa.net