Once Upon a Moonlit Night

Once upon a moonlit night,
a lady met an errant knight.
The scent of springtime in the air,
a lunar halo adorned her hair.
She stumbled in obscurity
and fell upon his arm lightly.
The knight, compelled by th' young maid's grace,
looked kindly on her 'lifted face,
And in her moon-eyed visage near
was moved to find a glistening tear.

"Sir, I pray you miséricorde,
strike me now with your sweet sword.
My heart is sick beyond repair.
This dullish life I cannot bear.
My own true love is gone from me.
My anguished soul now whispers, 'Flee'.
From this mediocrity,
with thy brand of charity,
set my wounded spirit free."
"Madam, I cannot," he cried
and in his 'wildered state espied
the turn of her gaze to the light she adored.

"Then I shall drink the moon!" she roared.
Her proud, fierce eyes began to dance.
The man no longer held her glance.
The moon alone bore her fair gaze.
While 'neath its misty, silvered rays,
she ope'd her lips and drank it in
and tasted light of sweet jasmine.

The astonished knight saw her rapt glee
and fell upon his bended knee.
But 'fore she slaked her savage thirst,
the rays within her heart did burst
while sylvan light enveloped her soul
to lift her past this mortal toll.
And there her spirit evanescent
left naught of the moon but a waning crescent.
And there where late her foot did tread
sprang forth the bloom of the wild orchid.

Now if you think my tale too strange and dark to be true,
You've never loved nor loss ever knew.
Not all fairy tales culminate in 'happily ever after'
Though stories are more pleasant which end in weddings and laughter.


(Author's note: in medieval times, a fallen knight might beg for mercy or misericorde, which was a small dagger used to deal the final blow --a mercy killing, so to speak. It was considered the compassionate thing to do, to ease his suffering. Inspired by the painting by John William Waterhouse, La Belle Dame sans Merci.)