The Slaying in the Night (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight)

The Slaying in the Night
(Sir Gawain and the Green Knight)

The Green Knight came back from war
His armor low, his spoil high:
Trunks of silk and weeping wives,
Gold, and wine and precious oils.

There was one that did not weep
But laughed in the Knight’s face,
And between the Lady and the Knight
He stood in a warrior’s stance.

Her Hair, a golden-yellow light
In which two knights sank;
Her frame was contoured just right,
At which all women dreamed.

Her lips were crimson red; her eyes
Liken to the sea, bluish-green
She wore a see-through gown,
One that all could see…!

And at the feast and by her course
No man—save, Sir Gawain dared
And from the distance, men-in-arms
Stood their ground, and starred.

Florencia made a hard stand;
And all knew of her charms,
She held her knight, rigid tight,
The Green Knight in her arms.

Soon to counsel the bitter stood,
Florencia and knight to knight;
Who bade Florencia to follow him?
Gawain’s valor rang!

With long faced anger, Gawain stood,
Then with sword in hand he struck
(Face to face, in a warrior’s stance):
The Green Knight, through and through!

There was lost hope in this dismay,
With slash and steel and words,
For his sword, like lard melted through
And killed Florencia, as well.



Note: here is the poetic version of the long version, which has 53-stanzas, and tells the story in full, of Florencia, Gawain, and the Green Knight’s romance, as told in “Sir Gawain, and the Ghost of the Green Knight.” This shorter poetic version was written on the Platform, 7-9-2007, No: 1901




How do Die in Old Age

Shunned from the world’s eyes
Like birds in a flock—who
No longer have a voice, nor
Can talk—:
To cities they come and side streets
They go, one by one, to die!
(Down from the mountains
Out from the valleys
One by one,
Their pain etched in their faces…
And eyes wrinkled, telling
Of their impending fate,
Ostracized from society,
They beg, lay in wait,--
For death,
And it comes;
Then they are gone!

No: 1894 7-5-2007

Commentary: life is not always fair is it, and so many people are thrown into old folk’s homes, places of care, out of sight and mind of their loved ones, without a morsel of dignity. This is going on every place you can think of nowadays, in the USA, as well as Peru and other places. The cities are being crowed in third world countries because of this phenomenon, where at one time the strong in the family, the children in particular, took care of the weak, feeble, and frail old folks, not so anymore. The new philosophy is: ‘…we got to go live, they lived their lives.´ (I call it wisdom lost.) Young folks think all the wisdom is in knowledge and they are so wrong, it is in life itself, living it, deep inside those old wrinkles (my mother lived with me her last several years, and I would not trade her wisdom, and calmness for all the money on earth). Anybody can read a book (flying to the moon is not so difficult, it was done 35-years ago, so what, what have we got out of it, besides a big tax bill?), but not so many can raise a family; not everyone is equipped psychosocially to handle a family. Once compassion is lost, coldness rules, and you can expect it to circle your way in a matter of time, and that time comes pretty quick.

Dedicated to: Nelly N. for her work with old folks in Huancayo, Peru