A young man stands still in the Soothsayer’s shack<\/p>\n
“It is not strength, but patience you lack” ,<\/p>\n
the seer says beneath a tattered hood<\/p>\n
in a drafty cabin to the north of the wood<\/p>\n
The knight huffs and turns upon his heel<\/p>\n
but stops at the sound of a wheel’s dying squeal<\/p>\n
A gentle voice gives thanks for a safe night passage<\/p>\n
the crone asks the knight if he’s heard the old adage<\/p>\n
regarding the actions of wise men and fools<\/p>\n
of the ways in which our hearts rule<\/p>\n
Before he can give the seer reply<\/p>\n
the form of a maiden catches his eye<\/p>\n
She opens her mouth but finds words she lacks<\/p>\n
The knight then says “aye, this be the soothsayer’s shack”<\/p>\n
He watches as she passes through the door frame<\/p>\n
and from the old woman learns her name<\/p>\n
But before he can ask of midnight passage<\/p>\n
and her thoughts on a certain old adage<\/p>\n
The seer’s eyes blacken and roll<\/p>\n
her body contorts as the spirits take hold<\/p>\n
The oracle speaks:<\/p>\n
“I see a fighter, valiant and true,<\/p>\n
a kind leader betrayed by two<\/p>\n
but as the sun sets, so it shall rise<\/p>\n
and there is power in knowing their lies<\/p>\n
But for now, you must wait,<\/p>\n
trust blindly in fate,<\/p>\n
The pale rider stands by<\/p>\n
with his discerning eye<\/p>\n
Mind the cups that you pour,<\/p>\n
and how the birds soar<\/p>\n
With your people make good,<\/p>\n
learn the ways of the wood<\/p>\n
Heed the words of the Fool,<\/p>\n
his irreverence for rule<\/p>\n
for the Bard will sing tales<\/p>\n
of how the wicked shall fail<\/p>\n
You will bathe upon the hill<\/p>\n
find your cups to be refilled<\/p>\n
Two lovers will sit under the sun and the moon<\/p>\n
Lovers they shall stay until they are entombed”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Color returns to the oracle’s eyes<\/p>\n
Her body releases and she lets out a sigh<\/p>\n
Go children, she says, there is much to be done<\/p>\n
and as I have spoken, you must be the ones<\/p>\n
The seer collapses onto the bedroll<\/p>\n
in her shack<\/p>\n
Go, she says, you cannot turn back<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A young man stands still in the Soothsayer’s shack “It is not strength, but patience you lack” , the seer says beneath a tattered hood in a drafty cabin to the north of the wood The knight huffs and turns upon his heel but stops…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5259,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,7,13,1],"tags":[2506,5738,5737],"class_list":["post-136848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-half-marathon-poem","category-marathon-poem","category-miscellaneous","category-uncategorized","tag-hour12","tag-marissawolfe","tag-poetrymarathon2023"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5259"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136848"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136848\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":136884,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136848\/revisions\/136884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}