KNIGHT’S POEM TRILOGY
KNIGHT’S POEM # 1
BALLAD OF THE KNIGHT’S
UNDER GOD
THERE ARE TWO ORDERS OF KNIGHTS
WHO RIDE UNDER THE BANNER OF GOD.
ALTHOUGH ONE ORDER MAY BOAST
OF COUNTLESS COATS OF ARMS,
THEY ARE BUT ONE ORDER.
KINGFISHER IS THE ORDER
WHOSE FOUNDING FATHERS
GAVE THEIR LIVES,
BUT WHOSE LIFESTYLES
OF SELFLESSLY LOVING THE LORD
AND OBEYING HIS SPIRIT,
HAVE BEEN LOST IN THE MISTS OF TIME
LIKE THE MYSTERIOUS MELCHIZEDEK.
EVEN THOUGH THEY FALL SHORT
OF WHAT THE LORD INTENDED,
HE LOVES THEM
AND BLESSES THEM
WHENEVER HE WILLS.
WHILE THE ORDER OF KINGFISHER KNIGHTS
DEVOTE THEIR LIVES TO GOD,
THEY ARE GIVEN THEIR RANK BY MEN
AND LIVE ACCORDING
TO THEIR VARIOUS INTERPRETATIONS
AT THE CASTLES WHERE THEY SERVE.
MANY TIMES
THE LORD LOOKS DOWN
WITH TEARY EYES
AS THEY JOUST AMONG THEMSELVES
TO PROVE WHOSE DOCTRINE IS BETTER
OR TO TEST THE CASTLE PECKING ORDER.
WHEN THE CASTLES UNITE
TO WAGE A HOLY WAR
IS THEIR VICTORY DUE TO BLESSING
OR THEIR BATTLE CRY,
“THE END JUSTIFIES THE MEANS?”
PROUDLY THEY SIT THEIR CHARGERS.
FEATHERY PLUMES GRACE THEIR HELMS.
COLORFUL LANCE PENNANTS
WAVE A SIGNAL VICTORY.
STURDY HERALDIC SHIELDS
SIGNIFY THEIR CASTLES.
CLOUDS OF MUSKY INCENSE
AND MARTIAL TRUMPET BLASTS
SURROUND THEM AS THE SUN
GLEAMS BRIGHTLY OFF THEIR ARMOR —
O’ THE VISTA OF THEIR PANOPLY.
AMID THE POMP AND CEREMONY
THE SIMPLE TRUTHS
OF THE WORD
ARE OFTEN OBSCURED.
ALL THE WHILE
BOLD DRAGONS
ROAM THE LANDS
CAPTURING AND DEVOURING
THE SIMPLE PEASANT
SAINTS OF GOD
AND THEIR BLOOD
CRIES OUT FROM THE SANDS!
GOD LOVES HIS CHILDREN.
BOTH THE SIMPLE AND THE WISE.
HE HEARS THEIR CRIES
OF PAIN AND DEATH
AS THEY SHATTER THE SILENT SKY.
HE SEES THEIR BLOOD
AS IT QUICKLY SPLATTERS
BUT SLOWLY SOAKS
INTO THE COLD EARTH.
FROM HIS THRONE HE REACHES DOWN
TO TAKE SOME HOME.
HE COVERS THE REST
WITH HIS HAND.
WHEN AT LAST GOD RETRACTS
HIS MIGHTY ARM
A SCATTERED BAND OF ARMORLESS KNIGHTS,
SLEEP DEEPLY
ON THE MOON-KISSED SANDS.
NOT OWNING THE METAL ARMOR OF MEN
THEY — WHEN THEY AWAKE —
FROM THEIR SWEET AND GUARDED REST,
WILL DON THE ARMOR OF GOD.
THEY WILL GROW IN HIS WAYS,
FORSAKING THE TRADITIONS OF MEN,
AND LEARN TO WALK THE NARROW,
SELFLESS PATH OF JESUS CHRIST THE SON.
HUMBLED AND SUBMITTED TO GOD,
CLIMBING MOUNTAINS
AND TRAVERSING ARDUOUS DESERTS,
WHILE EATING THE MANNA OF HEAVEN,
THEY DEVELOP CHARACTER
AND A SERVANT’S HEART.
WEAK IN THE BEGINNING,
STILL THE DRAGONS NEVER
FULLY WIN.
EVEN WHEN THEY FALL
FROM EXHAUSTION
DEATH IS NOT ALLOWED
TO OVERTAKE THEM
AT A TIME NOT SET BY GOD.
MUCH TO GOD’S DESPAIR,
THE MOST DIFFICULT BATTLES
ARE NOT WITH THE ENEMY,
BUT WITH THEIR BROTHERS IN CHRIST,
THE KINGFISHER KNIGHTS.
KNIGHTS KINGFISHER
OFTEN RALLY TO THE CHASE.
WHILE THE DRAGONS AND IMPS ARE IGNORED,
THEY STOP TO HUNT
THE ONES THEY CALL “GHOST RIDERS,”
“REBELS AGAINST THE CITADELS,”
OR “KNIGHTS OF THE SWORD AND THE CUP.”
SCATTER, WOUND OR MOCK
IS THE BATTLE CRY AGAINST THOSE
WHOSE CHRIST-LIKE EXAMPLE
IS DANGEROUS
TO THE KINGFISHER CREED
OF FLESH, INTELLECT, CEREMONY AND CONTROL
FOR THE GLORY OF GOD.
11/26/87 COPYRIGHT 1989 WAYNE O’CONNER
DEDICATED FIRST TO THE FATHER, SON & HOLY SPIRIT AND SECOND TO THE TWO ORDERS OF KNIGHTS : MELCHIZEDEK (AKA THE KNIGHTS OF THE SWORD AND THE CUP) AND KINGFISHER
KNIGHT’S POEM #2
THERE WAS ONCE A KNIGHT OF THE SWORD
AND THE CUP
LIKE EVERY KNIGHT
OF THE SWORD AND THE CUP,
HE WAS CHOSEN BY GOD
AND TRAINED BY THE SPIRIT
IN THE WAY OF THE LORD.
YOUNG IN YEARS
BUT ADVANCED IN THE WAY
HE WAS SENT ON HUNTS
IN THE NAME OF HIS LORD
JESUS CHRIST.
HE WAS A “GHOST RIDER”
A “REBELLIOUS RANGER,”
WHO FOLLOWED THE SPIRIT OF GOD
RATHER THAN
THE KINGFISHER’S CREED.
HE’D SLAIN DRAGONS,
BANISHED EVIL SPIRITS,
AND DESTROYED STRONGHOLDS
WITH THE SWORD OF THE LORD.
HE’D TRAVELED FROM
CITY TO CITY
AND FARM TO FARM
AS WELL AS HIDDEN CAVES
AND PINEY GROVES,
TELLING TRUTHS OF THE WORD
AND BEING USED OF THE SPIRIT
TO SPEAK WHATEVER NEEDED HEARD.
HIS TASKS AND TRAINING
WERE MORE DIFFICULT
THAN MANY A “GHOST RIDER”
HAD EVER PASSED THROUGH.
SO GREAT WAS THE STRAIN
THAT IT WAS MORE
THAN HE COULD BEAR
WHEN HIS LORD GAVE THE DAY
TO THE MINIONS OF HELL-HADES.
THE KNIGHT FELT BETRAYED
WHEN HIS SWORD FINALLY SHATTERED.
HIS GREATEST LOSS WAS THE SIGHT
OF HIS BROTHERS AND SISTERS
OF THE SWORD AND THE CUP
HEWN DOWN WITHOUT MERCY
BY ENEMIES WHO HAD LOST AT THE CROSS.
BATTERED, BRUISED
AND BLINDED BY PAIN
HE’D BEEN LEFT FOR DEAD.
SHATTERED IN SPIRIT
AND TORMENTED IN MIND,
HE CRAWLED AWAY.
THE KNIGHT HAD NOT REALIZED
THAT HIS VALIANT PROTECTOR
HAD NOT LEFT HIM.
HE DID NOT UNDERSTAND
THAT BATTLES MAY BE LOST,
EVEN THOUGH THE WAR
HAD ALREADY BEEN WON
BY JESUS CHRIST.
THE ONLY RULE
IS TO STAND
WITH THE LORD
FOR HE NEVER
MAKES MISTAKES.
HE RAN FROM PLACE TO PLACE
TO ESCAPE THE PAIN.
NO MATTER HOW FAR
OR HOW FAST HE RAN,
THE DRAGONS
WERE ALWAYS THERE
TO TORMENT HIM
UNTIL THEY TIRED
OF THE SPORT.
THE SWORD
THAT HAD ONCE SLICED
THE THICKEST OF SCALES
AND HAD ONCE DARTED
SO QUICKLY
THAT IT HUMMED,
WAS BROKEN – AND THEY KNEW IT.
HE COULD RUN, BUT NOT FOREVER.
SLEEP WAS NO LONGER
A LUXURY TO BE HOARDED
OR TREASURED,
BUT A SERIES OF LOSING BATTLES.
CONFIDENCE GAINED
FROM CONSTANT VICTORY
AS A KNIGHT
OF THE SWORD AND THE CUP
WAS REPLACED BY THE DESPAIR
OF DEFEAT.
EVEN THOUGH THE HAND OF GOD
OFFERED A REFORGED SWORD
FROM TIME TO TIME,
A MIND NUMBED
BY BETRAYAL AND GRIEF,
REFUSED TO TAKE IT UP AGAIN.
GOD’S PROTECTION
HAD NEVER LEFT,
ALTHOUGH IT WAS UNSEEN.
HUMILIATION REPLACED
FEAR AND SORROW,
AS KINGFISHERS FOUND
THE FALLEN KNIGHT
AND COMMENCED TO CELEBRATE
“THE JUSTICE OF GOD”
AGAINST THIS “MISGUIDED
GHOST RIDER.”
PITY AND GOD’S WILL
KEPT THEM FROM LANCING HIM,
BUT THEIR APPETITE FOR CONQUEST
WAS WETTED
AS THEY STABBED HIM
WITH MOCKING WORDS.
OCCASIONALLY THEY OFFERED
EMPTY SOLACE
THAT NEVER SEEMED
TO HEAL THE WOUNDS.
AT OTHER TIMES
THEY TOSSED STALE SALT.
THEY TALKED ABOUT GOD
AS THEY KNEW HIM
AND DEMANDED THEIR POINT
ON THE FALL OF ONE KNIGHT —
ONE NIGHT OF THE SWORD
AND THE CUP.
THEY NEVER TIRED OF ASKING QUESTIONS
DESIGNED TO DENY
THE LIFE OF THE SPIRIT
OR BELITTLE KNIGHTS
OF THE SWORD AND THE CUP
WHO BELIEVED THAT GOD LEADS,
BY HIS SPIRIT –
NOT JUST BY HIS BOOK.
THEY SAID IT WAS SIN
AND REBELLION
TO THINK
THAT THE KNIGHTS
OF THE SWORD AND THE CUP
COULD SUBMIT TO GOD
AND HIS SPIRIT,
WHILE IGNORING THE RULING CLASS
OF THE ORDER KINGFISHER,
WHO WERE APPOINTED
BY ERUDITE MEN.
GOD MOST HIGH HAD NOT FORGOTTEN
HIS PALADIN
WITH THE BROKEN SWORD.
‘TWAS TRAINING AS USUAL
COME TO AN END —
A COURSE COMPLETED
ON THIS PLATEAU
OF NEVER ENDING SAND.
JEHOVAH-NISSI SENT SEVERAL
KNIGHTS OF THE SWORD
AND THE CUP
TO PROVE THAT GHOST RIDERS
FOR JESUS STILL RODE
AS CHOSEN CUPS
FILLED WITH HIS HOLY GHOST
AND WIELDING THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT.
Wayne O’Conner c. 1989 11/27/87
KNIGHT’S POEM # 3
Of Eros & Chivalry
When I ride away into the dusk
Of your memories
You will remember me
For an everlasting instant.
Softly the well of your soul trickles
Like the sorrowful summer rains
That follow the hot, angry
Cloudburst cries of desire.
Your destiny will come
In the form of another;
He will take my place.
So savor your dream swept tumbling visions
Of blood and steel and starshine and silk
As they continue always to seek for me…
The me that is not me.
Believe me when I say that any man
Even at his pinnacle
Is still imperfection.
Imperfection is normal
And perfection in intangible:
The essence of wish rings, hope smoke
And dream dust.
For those of my creed fairy tale
Endings can never be.
Far better be it to save and cherish a dream
Than to have to dream to remember.
Every knight that enters battle
Ensheathed in mental honor
And encased in burnished metal
Can’t expect to win unscathed.
A cavalier must never forget the doom
Of future princesses
And that he must be free to save each one.
A paladin must always remember
The will of God
And the commands of king and country,
The honor he must seek
And wisdom he must defend (&vv)
As well as the life long quest
That never ends until to God his ghost is given.
Written in college, date unknown.
Wayne O’Conner 11/27/87 c. 1989/2011
From WAYSIDES ALONG THE JOURNEY: ADVENTURES IN A FLYING MUSEUM (2ND EDITION). 