I heard a tapping at my door
And sat quite still and silently,
As startled as a rabbit for
I had no inkling who might be
Beyond that portal, barred and locked.
What face out there, that I might see?
Who stood without and loudly knocked?
The tax man come to take his due?
The comely lass with whom I’d talked?
A noble and his retinue?
A criminal with greedy grin?
These things and more went racing through
My mind as I stayed safe within
This shuttered home, this castle keep,
Protected from what might have been.
The noise that wakened me from sleep
Was gone as fast as it had come,
Returning me to silence deep.
My nerves, they jangled, then went numb;
I watched the door, but saw no clue
Of where my visitor was from,
Or why they made the journey to
Arouse me from my evening’s rest.
The fear I felt before now flew,
My heart slowed down within my chest,
And left me only with regrets
That I’d not risen to this test.
Could I be like the man who sets
His sail to go out on the sea
And seize its bounty with his nets,
Though he knows not what there might be
Among the fish in shining heaps
With spines to prick him, stealthily?
The clutching miser only keeps
What money he had at the start,
And, since he sows not, never reaps
The rich rewards that risk imparts
To those who bravely venture out.
I sit alone and guard my heart,
With loneliness I banish doubt,
But treasures I will never find
If I have no one else about.
So safety I must leave behind,
And bet my coin on something more.
Put on my shoes, make up my mind,
And set sail for a distant shore,
As I come knocking at your door.

I bend my knee before my lord,
Or at a lovely lady’s feet,
To take her hand with kisses sweet,
To give the king my loyal sword;
For them a knee I can afford.
But now I stand and shall not yield,
Though you have caused my blood to flow
With savage strike and mortal blow;
The bards may say you won the field,
But none may claim that I have kneeled.

I smile when my true love’s face is in sight
And touch her hand to know that she is there.
I warm her feet with mine each winter’s night
Since first we ever had a bed to share.

Each day I see her waking with the dawn
And as we tuck our children into bed.
Day by day, together we go on,
By promises and rings forever wed.

Yet when we are apart I shed no tear,
Nor sadly sigh, nor lie all night awake;
No distance is so great that I might fear
That our love would stretch thin enough to break.

No matter how far I am from my bride,
I know that she is always by my side.

This was written for my wife on our 15th wedding anniversary, when she was out of town.