Wednesday, March 09, 2011

walk the world

he looked meek
he looked wild
carrying his saddlebag
he ceased being a child
in the valley of coyotes
he felt so brave
he felt so free
in the presence of the windmills
the mountains seemed mellow
he trudged on with his battered self
across the ocean, there was a new world
deep inside the moors, 
only hawks dared
the sun blazed
yet he walked on
he wished for plains
he wished for rains
his bare feet traced the miles
haunting sounds of silence
admired his spirit
nothing dainty about him
but he tantalized the empty spaces

"a knight, a king, or a knave, 
he was only a young man walking the world"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Words taken from the lyrics of Gordon Lightfoot's song Don Quixote. You can see the lyrics here:
http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/g/gordon_lightfoot/don_quixote.html

20 comments:

Lalita Singh said...

Aahh!! Too good as always!! :)

Nanka said...

Nice imagery from around the world in your well expressed poem! And you brought out the meaning of the three words beautifully! Loved this one!

barbara said...

"He trudged on with his battered self" Love that.
This is like one of those folk tales of the questing youngest son whose innocence is the only thing he has.

flaubert said...

Gautami, I like how you placed some
rhyming in this and that ending is
powerful.

Pamela

Jae Rose said...

What a journey..I enjoyed your descriptions in this piece..a little different from some of your poems perhaps? Very enjoyable..Jae

Sheilagh Lee said...

Very beautiful imagery and the amn trudging on loved that.

Altonian said...

Full of atmosphere, and great imagery - so very well done.

pia said...

loved the images and the rhythm!

Anonymous said...

This flowed beautifully...wonderful imagery. Vb

Old Egg said...

This is truly a great poem with a wondrous sense of freedom about it.

I did however have a feeling that "seized" should have read "ceased" in the fourth line. Sorry if I have misunderstood that section.

Joseph Harker said...

It still sounds like Quixote himself, but much more broken down... Quixote as he really would have been. :) Love that "new world deep inside the moors".

Anonymous said...

You've connected so strongly to the original lyrics, and yet this is distinctly a different work. I love word portraits, and this one is a good story too.

brenda w said...

I love this piece, especially the last line! Well done.
~Brenda

Ramesh Sood said...

This touches..thanks..

patcegan said...

It facinates me how differently we use the prompts. This is stong and yet touching. Thank you! hugs, pat

patcegan said...

www.patcegan.wordpress.com

Ren said...

Beautifully written. You took me there...

Madeleine Begun Kane said...

That was lovely, as always!

James said...

Beautiful. This is a favorite: "in the valley of coyotes / he felt so brave / he felt so free"

rmpWritings said...

beautiful...there is something very calming or maybe freeing about the feel of your words.