Poetry of Issue #8        Page 8

Often Upon a Time

Where villainy rules
o’er impetuous fools,
knights slay dragons each day
to keep danger away
from the damsels who swoon
’neath a sliver of moon—
for armor shined brightly
brings lusty dreams nightly.

Fair maids who’s affairs
are arranged for their heirs
are not burdened by cares
of expanding derrieres;
their proportions are just
and well-balanced by bust
which their mothers all trust
will give rise to the thrust

of a nobleman’s lance
as their great horses prance
at the list, and perchance,
at the evening’s great dance,
where the lancettes are powered
by girls fully flowered—
and hearts are devoured
by those somewhat less dowered—

at a champion’s wrist
their pure lips will be kissed;
deepest love will persist
and result in a tryst
with true love’s first embrace,
hand-in-hand, face-to-face,
feeling both heartbeats race
in a deep, timeless grace.

For the knights, any lass,
any bearing or class,
but the maids will evince
they seek only a prince.
Oh, how soon love’s first kiss
will find something amiss
as their hope, love, and laughter
meet life’s ever-after.

Ken Gosse