I Came Upon The Castle... Poem by John Lars Zwerenz

I Came Upon The Castle...



I came upon the castle…

I came upon the castle where my princess resides,
Perched high upon a fleecy,
Wind-swept down.
She saw me from the ornate balcony
With her dusky eyes of sunlit brown.

She swooned among the long silhouettes of the myrtle trees,
Where soft Baroque symphonies
Glide to the seas,
And to the sunlit tide.
(Her radiant, perfumed tresses are where rare dreams abide.)

I entered the foyers
Where an ancient row of knights stood in array
Against the stony wall,
A wall of ancient gray.
I walked up the stairs
To her father's study,
Amid mahogany, as a servant did call.

"I am here to see the princess, " I said.
And curtsying, she left me in the stately hall.
Outside the rays of the sun did fall,
With scarlet, saffron, and carmine-red.
Its beams flashed languidly through the stained glass panes
Before they set beyond the peaks of a distant mountain,
Before they turned purple, before they were dead.
In the courtyard below rose a solitary fountain,
Next to a carriage which circled in the square.

My love entered the chamber,
As in through the sashes
Came the sweet and fragrant summer air.
I bequeathed to her
A new bouquet,
And the dew of my sailor's coat
As I hugged her,
And her lovely, black lashes
Opened to evening.
"Can we walk to your boat? "
I heard her say.

So we left the castle happily,
And strolled to the grotto, by the frothy, vast sea.
And when she took my hand
Into her own,
Her tender heart went through me,
Beyond all softness that I had ever known.

So we sailed to the shores of Italy,
To the mainland, north of Sicily,
On the Mediterranean's breezy brine.
And after some days of romantic travel,
We immersed ourselves in Florentine wine.
And each new star that silently rose
Over our little garden-close,
Bequeathed upon our eyes a marvel.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Colleen Courtney 08 June 2014

This beautiful poem is just another prime example of why John is at the top of my favorite poet's list. Utterly and amazingly beautiful tale.

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John Lars Zwerenz

John Lars Zwerenz

NEW YORK CITY, U.S.A.
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