Standard disclaimers apply

Author's Notes: I've decided to a small poetry collection. Maybe not so small, but a collection of poems in a character's point of view. This is my first time to post poems, so please be nice. Read and review. Only constructive criticisms are welcomed. I'm not really confident in doing poems. I'm just posting it for the heck of it. Hey, I like to make poems.

A Vagabond's Decision

Coarse hands covered in blood,

Torn clothing spattered with mud.

Shinning sword, brilliant steel,

The weapon of death, meant to kill.

Trudging steps, so heavy of heart,

A past so vast and dark for me to part.

By my side, a sword meant for protection,

But in my heart, it was a price for redemption.

I've lived for only twenty-eight years,

But matured with sorrow, death and tears.

I've been looked up to, seen as wise,

But do they know the heavy price?

I've seen and wandered, felt all there was to feel,

This is what I know is real.

No, I have no place to go, to stay,

I've traveled alone, night and day.

But, would my peace be found in this house,

And love the woman I've wanted to be my spouse?

Would I stay in this place, so knitted and free?

Or would it collapse, as everything it was to be?

In a winter's morn, to remember that day,

My long journey up the mountain's way,

To save a woman I've loved when young,

Just to lose as easily as it had sprung.

Two flowers, held closely in my soul,

One of white plums embraced with a shawl.

But she had gone, forever in my memory,

A place I deemed as a painful territory.

The other was of jasmine, strong and pure,

Spirited, naïve, innocent and sure.

In colorful clothing, cheerful bouncing

Of blue and black, innocently beguiling.

There would be a day when I have to decide,

Look at my friends and take only one side.

To follow my mind's demands, to pack and leave,

Say goodbye to everything I believe.

Or would I follow my heart's desire, to stay in peace,

To finally settle myself in this new release,

The will to live, the joys of friendship, the love of life,

And finally take this pretty woman as my wife.

But, the decision can be settled some other time,

She sits beside me, says my thoughts are a dime.

I laugh, I look and I see myself in her eyes,

I know, I realize and I've secured my ties.

Maybe my mind and heart contradict,

But I, myself, can already predict

What I will choose between the two,

I'll put her first, in everything I do.

Whatever excuse I might think up,

I can just erase it and let the topic drop.

Probably just to ponder it, to be lit,

But my decision is certainly obvious, isn't it?

Next up…

Kaoru's poem