Giles Watson's poetry and prose
The King's Pardon
Poem 14 from OUTCASTS IN GREENWOOD: Poems inspired by the Medieval Robin Hood Ballads
THE KING'S PARDON
His forearms burly as oak limbs,
His eyes singular as acorns:
I should have known.
The flexed wrist tendoned as leaf veins,
The narrow iris green as chlorophyll,
Were due warning.
When fox and wolf missed the butts
My zeal was sharp for buffeting,
Lugs red from clouting.
An arrow astray; his fist
Is hard as oakwood, seasoned
With sun and smoke.
I croak, and spit out loam;
The oak leaves wreath his snarl.
I cringe, and call him king.
Poem by Giles Watson; reading recorded on 2nd April, 2010.
For further details on the background to these poems, see my Outcasts in Greenwood set, here:
www.flickr.com/photos/29320962@N07/sets/72157608384905983/
The pictures are illustrations of the Robin Hood legend, spanning the 15th to the 20th centuries. The photo and the pencil drawing of the King are my own.
The King's Pardon
Poem 14 from OUTCASTS IN GREENWOOD: Poems inspired by the Medieval Robin Hood Ballads
THE KING'S PARDON
His forearms burly as oak limbs,
His eyes singular as acorns:
I should have known.
The flexed wrist tendoned as leaf veins,
The narrow iris green as chlorophyll,
Were due warning.
When fox and wolf missed the butts
My zeal was sharp for buffeting,
Lugs red from clouting.
An arrow astray; his fist
Is hard as oakwood, seasoned
With sun and smoke.
I croak, and spit out loam;
The oak leaves wreath his snarl.
I cringe, and call him king.
Poem by Giles Watson; reading recorded on 2nd April, 2010.
For further details on the background to these poems, see my Outcasts in Greenwood set, here:
www.flickr.com/photos/29320962@N07/sets/72157608384905983/
The pictures are illustrations of the Robin Hood legend, spanning the 15th to the 20th centuries. The photo and the pencil drawing of the King are my own.