Errant

O to be king

To cast off this heavy garden of petticoats

To wear a sword in my belt
Its hilt twined with roses
Its blade milk-white

As I run
Thistles trail behind me through the grass

I live in a castle on a cloud
My hair reaches to the ground like an autumn beanstalk
O to cut myself loose
Like a ship from its moorings
And leap through the window
Through cloud and cloud
And land on my feet like a cat

I am a tomcat without whiskers
I am a king wearing someone else's crown

O to be true

My laugh is girlish
My body belongs to the moon my mother
But my heart is a king's heart
And my eye is a tiger's eye
And my stride is rakish
And my breast is gallant

O for a friend to make the adventure merrier
O for a damsel to save

I would let her fall into my arms
If she would let me be her Don Quixote
Her knight without a name
Her cavalier without a cock