(a Mayberrie’ poem)
.
He commanded her to flee,
the troops were near,
a bugle called.
One more embrace,
one last locking of their eyes,
then go! he cried,
mounting his steed
and in his voice
she heard the heat
and so she fled into the forest
never looking back.
.
Tears stung her cheeks
as wild roses tore her skirt
and branches of the trees
reached out
grabbing at her arms.
She stumbled over coiled roots,
weeping thorns caught her hair
but on she rushed
away from shouts of boiling thunder,
to the castle wall –
knowing that before he rode away
he stopped
and silent, watched her go.
.
© 2012 Betty Hayes Albright
Seasonings 
This just clutches at my heart–I’m so THERE, feeling her torn heart. I love “wild roses tore her skirt”, a lot–and also the end, oh gosh, the end, Betty. I feel drained, like I need to lie down. And my head is spinning with the frantic thought, will they be reunited???
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Caddo, thanks for reading this – I was going to put off writing it until tomorrow but it demanded to be put on paper tonight. So there it is, still a bit rough. (It came from a very real place in my heart.) Sorry it drained you – have some chocolate! 🙂
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No, not drained in a bad way, Betty–drained because I was THERE and it was so good!!! Sorry for the misunderstanding. I love these, you know that!
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I understand, Caddo – not to worry! 🙂 (“Drained” is how I feel after writing most poems – from all that emotional energy poets invest in their writing, maybe?)
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just amazing, I loved “as wild roses tore her skirt
and branches of the trees
reached out
grabbing at her arms.” Wow, vivid! beautiful
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Thank you, Linda, for the nice compliment!
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I really enjoyed! I like the style even more.
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Thank you, Reno King Lawrence – for reading this, and for your comment! 🙂
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Lovely, Betty
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Thank you, Martin! Always glad to see you stop by. 🙂
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The romance of mayberrie, the mysterious women who face the battle and the men who are there or not there, but always creating an atmosphere so beautiful that it makes you want to leap for joy or sit down on the ground and cry. This is magic, Betty, magic! It boils inside your imagination and then spews out into words and images so powerful you want to twirl around in a tornado and see what kind of beauty or sadness or tension comes out, changing the human heart and spirit forever. I’d like to go to mayberrie and see its great forests and high mountains and feel the fever in the women and men who are so passionate about each other and life. I’d like to go and hear the songs of the wind and see the shining of the moon and feel the heat of the noonday sun. I am convinced it would change me as it has changed you. Who knows, maybe I’d ever learn how to write poetry!
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Thomas, I thank you from the bottom of my poet’s heart! This next week I’m hoping to finally put these Mayberrie poems into order. They come randomly, not in chronological order, though they are about the same man and woman. Wish me luck fitting the pieces together! (This one, for example, belongs somewhere in the first half of the story.)
Much gratitude to you, and I hope you are feeling as well as possible right now. You’ve been in my thoughts!
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I can see the seen as she turns her horse and reluctantly rides away leaving the love of her life behind!!xxxx I love the poem.
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Thank you once again, Willow! 🙂
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I want to cry reading this Betty.
The tears stinging her cheek and her skirt being torn by wild roses is such a powerful image – I can picture a small fragment of her skirt clinging to a branch in the wind. I have goosebumps.
Much love
Christine
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So glad you felt the experience of the poem, Christine! 🙂
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“Tears stung her cheeks
as wild roses tore her skirt
and branches of the trees
reached out
grabbing at her arms.
She stumbled over coiled roots,
weeping thorns caught her hair”
This is beautifully managed!
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Thank you, Ben – “managed” – just barely, methinks. 🙂
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Betty, I love this and could feel the emotions strongly and I love the lines that others have commented on..
.“Tears stung her cheeks
as wild roses tore her skirt
and branches of the trees
reached out
grabbing at her arms.”
This is so vivid, I could see it all! Love it! 🙂
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Lauren, I appreciate your comment very much! 🙂
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Such engaging narrative and beautiful imagery, like ‘weeping thorns caught her hair.’
Hope it goes well putting these together…so worth doing, Betty! As a novelist I really enjoy these Mayberry offerings!
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Diane, I’m just catching up on replying to comments – thank you so much! I’m glad you like this series. 🙂
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I am falling more and more in love with these two characters and their love story in this Mayberrie series of yours, Betty! Truly wondrous how it ensnares us!
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Granbee, thank you – that’s a high compliment!!
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enjoying the excitement
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