My heart alone knows what I’ve done:
The prizes claimed, the battles won,
The thoughts I’ve had when I’m afraid,
The secret burdens undisplayed
And hidden deep from everyone.

But as the flower seeks the sun
And shackled convicts long to run,
I curse the sins whose weight has made
My heart alone.

Yet in the gallery is one
Whose grace has made my locks undone
And for whose sake I’ve nightly prayed
To be destroyed and then remade
An honest man who need not shun
My heart, alone.

Written in response to the question “How does a lady inspire Chivalry?”

Have faith in me and ask not why
I take no map and just rely
On half baked notions, memories,
And intuition; it is these
That heretofore have got me by.

The trackless woodlands terrify
The timid traveler, but I
Think this way looks familiar; please
Have faith in me.

Your charts show roads, but not the sky;
Just take my hand and we will try
To find our way home on the breeze
And witness what the storm cloud sees;
I’ll show you why the few who fly
Have faith in me.

From Cupid’s bow there flies a dart,
And where it lands shall romance start:
Eternal lovers, strong and true,
Or passion’s pawns, thrust deep into
The storm tossed sea without a chart.

Yet paramours are seldom smart;
They drive the horse behind the cart
And later curse each shaft that flew
From Cupid’s bow.

Love is not science, but an art;
Not every hind will find her hart.
The arrows miss, or strike askew,
And when they fail it falls to you
To seek out other ways apart
From Cupid’s bow.

I saw the path; the signs were clear,
And then, O Lord, I lost my way.
With victory sure, the prize was near.
I saw the path; the signs were clear.
A heartless man who rules with fear
Is ever sure to win the day.
I saw the path; the signs were clear,
And then, O Lord, I lost my way.

The things we want are tempting bait
That lure us to participate
At tourney field or concert hall,
To run the race or scale the wall,
That we may thus accumulate.

Yet base desire may turn to hate
As we are crushed beneath the weight,
Hemmed in on every side by all
The things we want.

The wise among us contemplate
What we should choose to venerate:
Ignore the worldly goods that call
Like Atalanta’s golden ball;
Let charity and love dictate
The things we want.