Poems to Kestrel of Arren (1989 - 1990)

Cass was my first girlfriend, and I wrote her a ton of poems. I wrote her almost as many poems as I wrote Ironhawk. Very few of those poems are even structured, let alone period, so I won't post them here.

In my early days in the SCA, I had a Japanese persona, that of a lady of Heian-Kyo. (This is why everybody calls me Midori, even though my persona is English. Old nicknames die hard.) I experimented with some Japanese poetic forms. Although haiku are actually too late-period to be properly useful in the SCA, I've included my haiku as well, for the sake of thematic continuity.

I have some other later-period Western poems to Cass lying around somewhere, but I haven't been able to find them yet.

Linked Tanka (July 1989)

I.

Swift the dawn rises
stretching her arms to the sky
smiling at a dream;
but soon the day is obscured
by the clouds of your absence.

II.

Behind rice paper
we whisper our love, breathing
soft sighs; our deep looks
are hidden behind spread fans.
Ah! Can we not see open air?

III.

The plum blossoms weep,
without you to behold them;
in the lonely night,
the moon cries without comfort.
Alone, I too am weeping.

IV.

Your hands are white, and
soft as silk against my breasts;
white as lightning in night.
Soft the thunder as it breaks,
sweeter than sake the rain!

Haiku (mostly unlinked) (July 1989)

I.

From the first thunder of spring
bloom roses:
the night petals of longing

II.

A cat cries in want
of a lover; would that I felt
the sweet stroke of your hand!

III.

I tilt my head back
to slake my thirst with warm rain -
I am lightning-soft.

IV.

This storm will not bate,
it seems; I am blown away
in wind and thunder.

V.

The roses burn, a
flaming sacrifice to
the goddess of my want.

VI.

The rains have gone, and
you with them: memory lies
on the roses - dew.

VII.

Your honor lies in my hands,
where you have placed it.
Why is it so sharp?

VIII.

We met in battle;
what folly, to engage in war
without armor!

IX.

Beyond the cherry blossoms,
a stable tree's trunk:
ah! mad, fleeting spring!

X.

The cup brims over;
the sweet wine of love's promise -
my parched throat cries thirst!

XI.

The veil is lifted.
Now truly I see the face
of living beauty!

XII.

A kestrel flew away -
why can I not spread my wings
and follow the wind?

XIII.

Cold and desolate
blows the wind from my city
to your far abode.

More tanka (mostly unlinked)(October 1989, plus two from September 1990)

I.

Autumn now is here;
the leaves fall to frosted ground
and no lovers play
within the cherry orchard.
The time for blossoms is past.

II.

Behind the rice paper screen
two kimonos fall.
Furtive the whispers,
but how delicate the hands
of my lady when we tryst!

III.

I once loved a butterfly.
She flitted about
my garden, touching
the flowers with her beauty.
She has flown to other flowers.

IV.

The cherry blossom
is admired, as is the plum.
Many flowers are
delighting to a gardener.
Why not then the pansy?

Author's note: This is of course grossly out of period, as pansies are not found in the Orient. However, I couldn't resist.

V.

I remember you,
love, the long springtime we shared,
the gazing fondness,
but also the bitter nights.
I shall let the seasons turn.