Little Warrior
Little warrior, take heart and know this
That before you came into my ranks
My kingdom had stood untouched
Safely guarded in that mountain fortress
Where's kept the heart and dreams of its king
Where flew the battle flag of solitude overhead
With the warning printed so boldly thereon
"Don't tread on me!"
My kingdom slumbered in a wintered sleep
That rendered my reign bereft of flavor
Then you, still baptized in bloody victory
Let loose your piercing battle cry
That shook the very foundation of my kingdom
Crumbling down the fortress walls!
Little warrior, my first knight, despair not
For you've become the salt of my kingdom
And the favored champion of this king's heart
And by very reason of your appointment
Have stayed the axeman his fatal cut
To my own mortality, for yet another term.
Look now my little prince
To that once cold mountain fortress
That had imprisoned in cold stone a hollow dream
Gloriously basking now in the warmth of defeat
Look there, high above the cherry blossoms
Where now the nightingale and cardinal sing
A new flag, warmly streaming on a spring breeze
Proudly raised in the fullness of my heart
This battle weary king's final treasure
At last, at long, long, last...
Flies my precious white flag!
Timothy I. Brumley
* A poem for my son that conveys the emotions I felt while witnessing the miracle of his birth
Written in free verse form as a reminder that freedom is never won free of cost, but
instead requires upon her sacred alter, the greatest of all sacrifices.
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