Return of Kings is having some minor technical difficulties, so until those are fixed, enjoy some poetry! Unlike my other poetry (which is to say; the poetry that isn’t deliberately written to be as terrible as possible), this one is a little more…free flowing in its verse structure than my other works of prose. It has a standardized rhyme structure early on, but then it kind of goes off the rails near the end—deliberately so.

And in being a poem about resilience in the face of failure, perhaps it’s another example of the old axiom “write what you know, and make sure that what you know is worth writing about”.

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Rain by Yours Truly:

Animal territory resounds with deafening silence
And a gentle rain falls within
A battered hulk reeling from violence
The rain comes slowly as he staggers in
Cheeks and brow damasked, red and white
As the shower mildly descends
A face damasked through clouts and blight
The deluge slowly the soil rends
The rain gently caresses
Fresh wounds from senseless battles and frays
The rain barely suppresses
The shame that sets his head and neck ablaze
Seeking masculine virtue without heed for cost
Upon his person the torrent continues to wash
Tenderly, he paws at the flesh marred
The wounds kissed by soft rains
He resigns himself to bearing scars
Scars unhealed by gentle rains.
A weary smile, and acceptance of the next day
While continuously fall soft rains
Still fall soft rains

—

As usual, you can find my poetry on Atop the Cliffs in addition to this fine website.