In This My Palace on the Water

In this my palace on the water

In this my timber kingdom

I sit in empty silence.

No troupers, troubadours nor tumblers

No masques, dancers nor musicians

None revel in my galleries

In my pavilions is no laughter.

Only by night, at the rain’s insistence

Arrive my shadowy courtiers

Sliding and turning to older melodies –

-       Past partners, first loves

-       My scattered comrades

-       My lost, my glorious brothers.

For how long yet must I vigil keep

Intent to the ring of a distant horn,

Or the lapping ripple of a boatman, sculling

To wake a king who sleeps in Avalon.