Sprintedon Hollow

Justan Tamarind: Book I       e14                            



Disorganized inhabitants.  His years
Were so remarkably fulfilled/ his peers,
Before and after, seemed (and would seem)
Like princes on the throne: that when the tears
Of many came in the wake of the dream,
Which really was his ship of death, the heart
Of Moiland tremored to its farthest stream,
Till there was not a major, minor part
Which did not lose in strength, which did not start.

From that crisp day, when fall blazed highest, all
In Moiland sought for ways to reach The Wall
(That marble barrier in Castle D
Behind which every king before Trent's Paul,
And every king thereafter, willed to be)
To visit holy Tamarind's bier,
To be with Nareb's hermit: not where he
Had risen to, but for a while; just near
To where his body lay beyond their fear.

For forty days their king's fair body laid
In grand repose, for not a hair decayed
Nor did a finger darken or turn hard;
But just as when that sainted ruler prayed
Before the vigil cross in Crean's yard,
And no one dared disturb him, his smile
And olive eyes . . . exactly as the guard
Rudolfo swore they were, so all that while
He stayed.  And each new mourner/ who would file/

Against The Wall, as each had sinned, would weep.
Such was the power given Ruam in his sleep.
Such was his Rune's approval, five weeks
And five full days.  By 3 pm the steep
Descent to Durin Square--where Seth still speaks
Of Ruam, as his family is wont,
On each November first--and there, the peaks
Of Sedra's voice, above King Argot's font,
Exploded into memories Moiland's want;

And there, the valleys of his voice, above
Queen Anna's herbs, extending Ruam's love
(His radiant ecumenical verve),
Seeping into hearts the fluid wonder of
A man who had one Master he would serve,
Enriched through rare emotions Moiland's wealth.
Oh whether today, to Parth, these deserve
One like him or have to/ shrink from the stealth
Of someone like Geldarkta: that the health 





for copyright information see homepage     Brian A. J. Salchert                  

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