THE JOUST
Now there are peels, mice and dung
But in this windswept plain
Yesterday screams of pain blew high
Blood and horses, lances and knights
A handful of earth and buckler parts
Now is the land silent and staunch
That is missing the wide crowd
Weird and terrible was the joust
Full of weaponry, nobles and horses
They came from far away
A multitude of servants and squires
Tumblers, ladies-in-waiting and foreigners
Poor families, wealthy and tramps
All of them to the edict faithful and obedient.
That day, that big sunny day came
So many sunshades and huge was the marketplace
The Church was full of people saying a prayer
Shiny nobles and we, the peasants
With our eyes wide open of never seen things
Beautiful ladies-in-waiting wearing gaudy gowns
Powerful knights clothed in steel
After the Mass all to the plain
Knights in review with arms for the war
Crowd that cheer, colours and flags
March in parade, swerve and go to the starting line
Closed the helmets and let down lances
Trembling soil with irons and hooves
Heavy and loud they hit the ground
Terrifying raised maces head to the sky
Slivers of steel of broken shields
Fly high through blood and beads of sweat
Once with the axe and once with the sword
The stroke that hit the mighty armours
Rising above the noise of the irons is to be heard
Together with the strain and the pain of the great defenders
The day before today the hero by the duke has been rewarded
Now the Prelate bless the ills
Through the awnings and the people that leave
The knights without arms, who is crushed and who is bruised all over
With squires and fellow soldiers they leave to the meadow
Of this quarrel for us populace
We just have memories and graves over the hedge.
TOMORROW
The olive fight with the voiceless passage of time
It bends and lives
Its twisted and silent shapes
Hold out to the sky
Well known that from the ground
Life comes.
Since experienced leaf
And to rotten earth
My soul is.
New source of life
For the one that one day
Casting a glance at me
Will raise his roots
Do that tall his shaft is
Do that long his branches is
Do that many his fruits is
And that I remember the day after today.
ENCHANTING NIGHT
It happened one magical night
So many years has gone by
Stars were shining high
With the moon and the planets up there
Close to a sleeping park
With a road sign that was witness to
The big game that lead us to here
started on.
Walls that you see
Love that you feel
All that will happens
Started from there.
And you, took your finger out of your mouth
With life in your eyes
And your dreaming voice by then
You said “ and now !??! “
Life got back to life
After the uncertain moment
With brighter colours
With crossed fingers
Greater plans
And bad arguments
We looked at the world
And it seems to us a small affair
We stretched out our hands to take it with us
And you, took your finger out of your mouth
With your sleepy eyes
And your sleepy voice
You said “ want more ….. “
Somebody told us
The end to reach
Summer came to
But we still are on the run
If you cast a glance at
Us slowly wandering around
Footprints you will see
Closer or far
Deep sometimes they are
It was
When we had a bad wealth
And you, took your finger out of your mouth
With your nearly closed eyes
You dream that we smile
And we play nearby.
CONFRONTATION
The fire lighted up makes
Curls of smoke
But the great hall still lives.
Strong the master smile and command
Shouts of servants and laughter of guests.
Joy tonight for the hunt of tomorrow
And the wine goes with the imagination.
Feats of war never seen but lived
For the one who tell as it was like yesterday.
“ Armed with a sling of bone,
I took aim and with power I drew.
The stone in the air sing precisely
And the strong enemy
To the ground laid down.
I slashed his belly with my strong sword,
Breaking all his suit of armour “
Inflate the chest,
And prove his strength to
The one that do not believe at the boasting
While pages and squires dream this fame
And what will be the things
Of the knights of tomorrow.
The light turned on makes
Shades with the smoke
Of hundreds of cigarettes lighted up.
The radio sing and play strong,
Somebody is dealing with the cards.
Anxiety tonight for the strike of tomorrow
And fear run after imagination.
Feats of war never seen but lived
For people that was sent to death
“ Armed with a sling of steel,
I took aim and I pulled the trigger.
The bullets in the air sing precisely
And the unaware enemy
To the ground laid down.
I slashed his brow with my rifle shot
Tearing off his helmet from the head“
He shrug his shoulders,
And shows his fear
Of sleep and dream what will
Happens tomorrow.
A TALE
The monster looked at the plain
While the knight without fear
Riding his shining steed
With the certain heart of a winner
Armed Lance
Ate up the plain,
Went through the forest.
He ran like the wind
Competing with the thought
He ran,
As only is horse did.
At the end of his run,
Glory and fame were waiting for.
At the end of his run,
Dead and fight were waiting for.
At the end of his run,
The monster was waiting for him.
It was huge, strong and repulsive
It looked at the knight
Without understand anything,
It was waiting for the fate,
It could be the life,
It could be the death.
It was not in a hurry, it can not running away
For it was the knight that has to die.
And the knight ran in the sunset,
He ran in the night, not being tired,
Not slowing down,
Spurring his unequalled horse to the flank.
Jumping over the shades and taking the plunges,
The fear of the dark and the drill that were large.
He flap to the wind his banner,
His plume and cape.
In his heart a stubborn thought
Over his shield a cross and a castle.
That day, the third, at dawn
He came closer to the monster.
That day, the third, at dawn
He reminded the last prayer at the cloister.
The wind, the things seemed to be soothed,
Maybe they knew that was the strain vain.
They looked at each other for a while,
The world was not moving,
The moment came.
The knight run shining for the steel and for the sweat,
With the breathless horse
With his heart noiseless.
The monster raised up close to the sky,
Huge and full of rage.
What is the life ?
What is the honour ?
The fight was savage and dreadful.
Cloud of dust and blood blinded them.
It lasted for two days, not being hungry,
But of flesh, not being thirsty,
But of blood, the fear and the hate blinded them, the rage and the foam.
The winner was the monster.
It was the strongest.
Dead was the horse, dead the hopes to stay alive, the only thing the knight
Could do was to going on.
So the monster ate his meal and laid down at the same place.
At the end of the plain another knight without fear turned up again.
He rode to the wind
That brought with it the screams of the fight.
The monster looked at him coming closer with no expression.
He was the fiend and he did not feel any fear.
He was waiting for the ones that take them’s chances.
THE WOLVES TALES
The night was extremely frosty. The village lying on the mountain peak
was floodlighted by the moon standing high up in the sky. Snow sent back
reflections of the light in a ghostly way. Through the lonely streets
the big wolf hungry and chilled by the weather was searching all over
the houses for the food. Its little and fearful pack was standing at the
village door. For the first time they were looking for the fare so close
to the men and so they left their leader proceeding by itself. Smell of
the men was strong and the wolf was edgy. It was walking along the middle
of the main street with brick houses all around, the snow was so high
that sometimes its belly was touched by so that it must ran in leaps.
Sometimes the snow was so frozen and trampled that the wolf slided on
it. Every two, three metres it stopped and smelt the air. The smell of
the men was increasingly stronger at the same time it could smell food,
horses, sheep, hen and warm places. Being hungry let the wolf to go on,
being scared to be careful. His eyes searching through dark corners, his
stretched ears tried to hear each little noises. In the bright night just
some breath of wind that sometimes blew to make the air colder than before.
All of a sudden, walking next to a door the smell of the food was so strong
that he whimpered. He came closer and he strongly smelt trying to feel
every noise and scent.
He was so strained due to the fact he was hungry and scared that saw indoors: in the room there were two adults and four babies. They have had dinner with legumes soup served in bowls and spoon wooden made. The fireplace was still on, the pallets were covered with woolen made rags and leathers. With a move he ran away, quiet and distrustful. He crossed a street and he stood next to an house smelling the air, waiting. The walls of the house were covered with ice so they shone. A puff of wind raised his hair and he smelt a sheep. He walked leaping to the scent that was dispelled as soon as the wind stopped, but now he knew that he could find something to eat. He carried on walking to the end of the street. Smell of the men was stronger than before so he was more careful. Now the pack was far away from him. Some elder wolf came closer but they stopped not being sure to go on, they were smelling the air and watching their leader that went into the road.
At that point the female wolf of the leader cautiously decided to follow the footprint of the male and so the rest of the pack went into the centre of the village some metres more being silent and searching the dark corners. The leader came next to a front gate smelling and closely watching. This was the main door of a wealthy man’s house, in the inside there were an arcade with a garden and a frozen fountain, the light of the moon was reflected into it like a glass chandelier. The wolf went to the following gate that was the church’s one. The scent of the men was mixed together with the smell of wax, wooden made benches and incense so he cut across not going closer. The female carried on walking to the male’s footprint holding off from him, the rest of the pack was unwilling to go on and they walk just for some distance keeping an eye on the pair. The wolf walked next to another door. It was a farmer’s house where the man was sleeping with his family in a room. The wolf smelt the fireplace still on, the leftovers of the spelt soup in the cauldron on the table, the smelt of the man and his babies that were sleeping in the same pallet wrapped up in leathers and woollen made rags, the smelt of the byre with two cows and a donkey that were standing over a closed and disjointed door. He went further trying to get round the house and at the following door he smelt the sheep once again, it was placed in a sort of closet of the house that looked on the outside. The door was light and it has been closed by a tablet that if moved got stuck in a buttonhole of the stone jamb. The wolf stood on the the door with his forelegs while he was feeling that in the room across there were no men. The female understood that something had been found and she ran to catch up with the male. The rest of the pack became careful and started to come closer ready to attend notwithstanding the danger.
The wolf scratched on the door and moved the bolt; so the door opened towards the inside. The pair rushed in the dark while the sheep that realized what was about to happen started to bleat terrified. At the second baa the wolf found the throat and paralysed the sheep not allowing it to make more noises. The two wolves started to eat it while she was still kicking in agony. The rest of the pack understood that something to eat had been found and so they went after the footprint of the prevailing pair. The pack came into the room to eat depending on their hierarchical role. At that point in an almost total stillness that was broke only by the light growls of the wolves to draw the other’s attention to their roles, a barking of a dog has been heard. The noise started so doubtful then became furious so that the dog became breathless. All at once the dogs of the village started to bark, some because smelt the wolves and some because of the yap of the other. At first the sleepy owners tried to hush them, then they paid more attention to the special and evil barking, they woke up most of them already dressed, they showed themselves at the door with oil lamps and branches lighted up by the fireplace. The ones that saw the pack, they went to the road and they cried out “ The wolves !! “. The scream was immediately heard in the village house by house. The men finished to dress, they took forks, scythes, billhook, branches and torches lighted up and they went out from the houses to chase away the wolves. “ Here, here they are here ! “ some shouted. As soon as the wolves saw some men at the doors with the torches they ran on their own footprints trying to leave the village. The men rushed to the place where the sheep laid. One of those men from the end of the road shot an arrow to the leader of the pack that was running away as the last of the wolves but he missed the mark for a few centimetres. When the man was ready to shoot another arrow the wolves were too far away. The men got together close to the open door of the small sheepfold to comment on the facts. Somebody kid about the man that missed the wolf asking him if he missed something on his pocket. He said “Don’t care about me, I will succeed to get back the augustali* I lost this evening “. What was written in the edict was clear “ Anyone that kill a wolf will be paid with a quarter of augustale “. The men were sorry for having missed such opportunity and they commented on the loss of the sheep and about the dexterity of the wolves in opening the door.
Men did some small talk about going wolf hunting and stories of the bravery of the wolves. Little by little the stories started to exaggerate, so someone told something about wolves that attacked and ate up a wayfarer, three wayfarers, a caravan, some wolves that came into an house and ate a child, some twin, an all family. What was at first boldness dropped down to sleepiness and so the men started to say goodbye to each other and they went to their houses. The owner of the dead sheep took with him the remains, cursing about the fact that he left the animal in the outer closet, but he got over it with the wife saying that with that “trick“ he saved the family from being attacked by the wolves that without any doubts could be succeeding in entering the house and eating them all while they were sleeping. For their safety that night they put the table on the door and they went to sleep. The moon was shining high in the sky so that the snowy village was dreamlike.
The leader of the pack with all the wolves look at the lighted village for a long time from a nearby hill smelling the air. Then the leader and his female they howl and the rest of the pack howl too so that the night was full of calls.
The sleepy village and the villagers was sent a shiver down their spine.
*augustale = Kind of coin dated 1200
