Jubal's poems

[Jubal]

As God Made It

I was but a pauper's lad,
Who lived on the street,
'til a merchant with a pamphlet
I then chanced to meet
He told me of Virginia
And since I was poor
I sold him my freedom
As an indenture.

On up, my boys,
Rise up my boys,
The ship sails today;
Give your lives to the smoke
Of the Chesapeake bay.

For five years good service
By law I was bound
To be worked to the bone
To be crushed to the ground
With four of my comrades
I tried to run free,
But I was soon brought back,
And my master beat me.

On up, my boys,
Rise up my boys,
The ship sails today;
Give your lives to the smoke
Of the Chesapeake bay.

When I had my freedom
My mind turned to land
To start finding coin
By the work of my hand
I found a small plot
And I found a sweet bride;
We'd been married not a year
Before she soon died.

On up, my boys,
Rise up my boys,
The ship sails today;
Give your lives to the smoke
Of the Chesapeake bay.

From the buildings of Jamestown
To the Accomack shore
The air's foul, the swamps deep,
But still they grow more.
Where there's sickness and fevers
That took my love's life,
Many's the lost planter
And the lost planter's wife.

On up, my boys,
Rise up my boys,
The ship sails today;
Give your lives to the smoke
Of the Chesapeake bay.

So go all you fellows,
Live the tale that I tell;
Of the Chesapeake Bay
And the charnel of hell
If it's coin that you wish for,
Then coin it will yield
But the smoke will leave scars
And they never quite heal.

On up, my boys,
Rise up my boys,
The ship sails today;
Give your lives to the smoke
Of the Chesapeake bay.

Chords:

Spoiler

I was but a pauper's lad,
  G               D
Who lived on the street,
      G                 Em
'til a merchant with a pamphlet
       G                        C
I then chanced to meet
  G                        D
He told me of Virginia
C                   G
And since I was poor
    D                   Em
I sold him my freedom
C                   G
As an indenture.
Em

On up, my boys,
G
Rise up my boys,
G
The ship sails today;
Em                C
Give your lives to the smoke
G                               D
Of the Chesapeake bay.
D                           Em

[Jubal]

The Magpie
Quoth the raven "nevermore"
Quoth the crow just "caw, caw"
The bright-feathered jay just swooped overhead;
The sly black rook gave the stare of the dead.

Just one bird was missing from the murder that day,
He'd taken their all; he was now far away
This, then, is the why of the corvids' displeasure;
Just ask the magpie, who stole all the treasure.

[comrade_general]

portugaling magpies!

[Jubal]

Pluto

Far out at the end of the planets' long race,
A cold ball of rock sits there, whirling through space.
The littlest planet, it danced its long jig
But was it a planet? It wasn't... that big...

Put swiftly on trial, the scientists found
That the rock wasn't big enough, measured around,
A dwarf it was labelled on that very day,
And the saddest of rocks was then sent on its way.

It moped passing Neptune, and cried to the sun,
Mars was indifferent; young Venus no fun
And its only friend Charon could not dry its tears,
As it looked to a future ignored by its peers.

But then a thought came to the rock, small and pale;
"Dwarf planet", means "planet", just smaller in scale,
And the rock glowed a little; because, after all,
A planet's a planet - no matter how small.

[Cuddly Khan]

I really like this one. Good work.

[Jubal]

An Age of Kings

Uneasy lies the head
That wears a jewelled crown
Fate turns her wheel high
Then casts her suitors down

Shadows in the moonlight shrink and grow,
Blades hang by the fireside glinting bright;
There's only one mistress he may know,
Fate holds him close at dead of night!

And furrowed is his brow
And worried is his frown
Fate turns her wheel high
Then casts her suitors down

Figures on a chessboard slay and sin,
Pay for his ambitions dearly
They ride to war
They sing and cry
But still he sits there,
Plays trapped in the game that fate must win

It's whispered in his halls
And out into the town
Fate turns her wheel high
Then casts her suitors down!

[Jubal]

The Oak Tree Dancer

Verses:
For the fireworks ended
E
The last notes died down,
Am
In the final, fading light.
C                G         Am
With a swift "nice to meet you"
C
You smiled, raised your hand,
G
Then vanished into the black night.
C                         G                 C

Choruses:
Yet still music plays in the dark of my mind,
Am                                     E
Still held there by your glance;
Am                  G            Am
So 'til the last oak dies, my dear,
Am          E           C        Am
There'll always be that dance!
G           (E opt)            Am

Bridge:
And the fireworks shone
C
And the dance carried on,
G
Your eye was a gem, a pool, a flame,
Am                              C         Am
And the music seemed endless,
C
But come the next day,
G
I was left with only your name.
Am                  E            Am

The evening was falling,
The music began,
A summer breeze crept through the trees,
With an unwary mind
With a crowd all around,
A world that was resting at ease.

Perhaps the oaks were mocking me,
Perhaps it was by chance;
But I turned to see you at my side,
And there I saw you dance.

You smiled at the music,
That gave you your wings,
As you almost seemed to glide,
You whirled like a dervish,
And flew like a bird,
As I hopelessly capered beside.

Further the band pulled us onward and in,
Drawn forward in a trance;
And for all my good deeds and for all my sins,
I was there to see you dance.

And the fireworks shone
And the dance carried on,
Your eye was a gem, a pool, a flame,
And the music seemed endless,
But come the next day,
I was left with only your name.

For the fireworks ended
The last notes died down,
In the final, fading light.
With a swift "nice to meet you"
You smiled, raised your hand,
Then vanished into the black night.

Yet still music plays in the dark of my mind,
Still held there by your glance;
So 'til the last oak dies, my dear,
There'll always be that dance!


CHORDS

Spoiler

Verses:
For the fireworks ended
E
The last notes died down,
Am
In the final, fading light.
C                G         Am
With a swift "nice to meet you"
C
You smiled, raised your hand,
G
Then vanished into the black night.
C                         G                 C

Choruses:
Yet still music plays in the dark of my mind,
Am                                     E
Still held there by your glance;
Am                  G            Am
So 'til the last oak dies, my dear,
Am          E           C        Am
There'll always be that dance!
G           (E opt)            Am

Bridge:
And the fireworks shone
C
And the dance carried on,
G
Your eye was a gem, a pool, a flame,
Am                              C         Am
And the music seemed endless,
C
But come the next day,
G
I was left with only your name.
Am                  E            Am

[Jubal]

I read a rather good short story recently and wrote this based upon it

Heartsong

The King was old and weary,
His sword had lain to rest,
When came to him a peasant girl,
Little Sooz, the peasant girl,
Cam for fear of a Gryphon's claws
With a heartbeat hard in her breast

His unicorn banner hung forlorn,
His castle quiet lay,
But he remembered the unicorn,
His banner's moon-white unicorn,
So the hero took his sleeping sword
And the beast he swore to slay.

The king and girl they found their foe,
The gryphon proud and tall,
In a lion's breast there beat a heart,
In the eagle's breast there beat a heart,
Two hearts, one mind on malice bent,
Upon them it did fall.

The King stood firm and he stood fast,
One heart he pierced and broke,
But then the gryphon threw him down,
Tossed him up and threw him down,
And he sprawled in the dust with the girl at his side
And not a word he spoke.

The girl and king lay on the ground,
Two hearts beat fast in tune,
A tune to bring a unicorn,
Amalthea, the unicorn,
Sped to them through the wildwoods,
As bright as a harvest moon.

The duel was short; the fight was fast,
The eagle-heart killed dead.
The two hearts of a gryphon slain,
The one heart of the bold king slain,
And little Sooz, the peasant girl,
Lay cold on an earthen bed.

But that is the power of a unicorn,
The girl she did awake
And so the girl lived ever on,
And so may you live ever on,
But remember the hearts that beat for doom,
Or for our lives would break.

[Jubal]

One of the poems I wrote on holiday:

The Teller's Epitaph

My voice and lungs are spent at last;
I leave to join the growing past
The tale continues ever on
But think not, friend, that I am gone
For every word's a planted seed
Each story to a tree may lead
The trees grow from my dying mouth
In all the places, north or south
Where I have spoken. Though I die
My stories live - thus, so do I.

[Jubal]

The Churchyard Wall

I am the writer on the churchyard wall
I come here for an hour every day
And it's here stories start, on the churchyard wall,
To grow to song, to tale, or to play

I am the writer on the churchyard wall
My friends they are the squirrel and the wren
My enemies the giants and the monsters of today
As my heroes grow with each stroke of the pen

I am the writer on the churchyard wall
I sit between the living and the dead
Past and future, rock and pen, to fight a present wrong
My weapons are the tales that fill my head

I am the writer on the churchyard wall
Though still I wish the tales had not called me
Alone with pen and paper on a churchyard wall
A slave's work this, to set a story free

I am the writer on the churchyard wall
I with they wouldn't leave me lost up here
Bemused, the smiles and frowns they flicker by and flicker past
Strange faces that will ne'er be close or near

I am the writer on the churchyard wall
Gatekeeper to a thousand worlds I stand
Alone to set my stories on the demons of the earth
My pen, the key of heaven, in my hand.

[Jubal]

And some song lyrics now:



Kett's Call

Arise you lads
And hear the call
And follow it
Until you fall
Arise, arise!
Arise, I say
To the commons' call
To the break of day.

Arise, then, lads
And hear me cry
And stand tall 'til
The day you die
When your lips go cold
When your eyes are pale
Half Norfolk lies
In Dussindale

Arise, you lads
In Wymondham town
And bring the jail
Walls crashing down
We'll chose our priests
And own our land
Obey none but
Our King's command.

Arise, then, lads
And hear me cry
And stand tall 'til
The day you die
When your lips go cold
When your eyes are pale
Half Norfolk lies
In Dussindale

Arise, you lads,
And wake to see
A host of men
In the duke's army
From Lincolnshire
And Germany
Their cannon bells
Do toll for thee.

Arise, then, lads
And hear me cry
And stand tall 'til
The day you die
When your lips go cold
When your eyes are pale
Half Norfolk lies
In Dussindale!

[Jubal]

And another!


The Heron Is King

Where the fens and the dry land
Both meet with the sea
Over sky, over water, the birds cry and sing
There's a place where each year
The leaves fall from the tree
Over sky, over water, the heron is king

Without leaves, without shelter,
The tree must remain
Over sky, over water, the birds cry and sing
'til the year turns around
And it finds them again
Over sky, over water, the heron is king

In the pale light of winter
Birds hide from the cold
Over sky, over water, the birds cry and sing
As all men must do too
When the year's growing old
Over sky, over water, the heron is king

Just one bird stands tall
In the frost and the snow
Over sky, over water, the birds cry and sing
By the shade of wide wingbeats
Then all folk shall know
Over sky, over water, the heron is king

So when you see a heron,
A baron or squire,
Over sky, over water, the birds cry and sing
Spare a thought for those who
Have no feathers or fires
Over sky, over water, the heron is king

[Jubal]

The Beekeeper

The Beekeeper sits
In a field full of hay
And he watches the flowers
That grow day by day
And he won't understand
If you turn and you flee
For he knows his life depends
On the honey-bee

The weaver she sits
In a cottage so small
Where the cobwebs and threads
Grow to cover the walls
And her fingers are strong
Though her strength starts to ebb
But the threads they make her home
Like a spiders' web

The tinker he stands
For he's nowhere to rest
He'll sell trinkets today
Then he'll head to the west
And he'll move slowly on
To find more things to sell
With his life upon his back
Like a snail-shell

The soldier she stands
With her head and heart sore
For the loss of the friends who
She followed to war
And she still doesn't know
What the morning will bring
But her coat is coloured bright
as a beetle's wing

The story I sing
Is my story as well,
For we wandering tellers
Need stories to tell
And we need all the beasts
Of the land, sea and sky
So my words can take their wings,
Like a dragonfly.

CHORDS:

Spoiler

The story I sing
Em
Is my story as well,
G
For we wandering tellers
Em
Need stories to tell
G
And we need all the beasts
            D                  Em
Of the land, sea and sky
          D                    Em
So my words can take their wings,
         G             D                         
Like a dragonfly.
           Em

[Jubal]

Lost In The Hallows

To feel like a ghost
In a town you once knew
Like the back of your hand
Might take some getting used to

CHORUS:
But the sky has grown dark
And there's no time to grieve;
The world's growing strange
And it's All Hallows' Eve.

It's a magic of sorts
That can leave you alone
Where your strengths make you weak
Where your home's not a home

CHORUS

And the drinks I have drunk
And the clothes that I wear
They will fade and will break
As the beech trees turn bare

CHORUS

There are people I've lost
Those I haven't yet found
Some that just pass me by
As the year turns around

CHORUS

So what's to be done
When the spirits grow bold?
Nothing left but to dance
Let the witchcraft take hold!

CHORUS

[Jubal]

Firesong
Hear the fire's song
The hiss, the gentle roar
That whistles on a winter wind
Beyond the cold, before the thaw

See the fire's glow
As it weaves into the air
The forks that fly into the dark
But that never linger there

Feel the fire's burn
The heat upon your face
Fire for a moment fills the world
And then is lost in darkened space.