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Monday, May 26, 2003 This Poem is called "The Piper". It's definitely one of the longest poems I've ever written, and one of the best so far. I wrote it from May 20 to May 25. Usually I write poems in one day, but I wanted to take longer on this. It was inspired by a vision I had of a Highlander bagpiper standing on the highlands and playing his song. Enjoy!THE PIPER Upon the bonnie highlands In olde Scotland one still night A piper stands at attention In preparation for the fight He fills his lungs, he fills the bag His pipes call out their song The piper's seen many a battle But now he must be strong He's old and weary, like his pipes He moves his weakened limbs It won't be long 'til someone else Plays "Amazing Grace" for him One chilly morn' in Inverness It was 1829 A wee young boy picks up the pipes For the very first time He struggles hard to hold them up With advice from dear ole Dad, "Now you've got your own bagpipes, my little bonnie lad" "Play them grand, play them proud, Play them right, play them loud" "You're not just another child, you see. Now you're a bagpiper just like me" The wee lad stands upon the heath With a nervous gleam in his eye Pride of country running in his veins He gives the pipes a try He struggles to keep his fingers straight Upon the chanter of wood He's aware that here so long ago His own grandfather stood The sounds come out so harsh and shrill But the young lad tries again He finally gets it right this time With a sorrowful tone on the wind Ten years later on that same heath The soldiers march along Our bonnie hero marches too Playing his military song He's in the British Army now Fighting for homeland But he holds neither gun nor knife He's in the Army band His part to you may seem quite small Just playing some bagpipe songs But it's the music from those lovely pipes That moves the soldiers along Standing in his tartan From his clan's glorious past He plays the tunes with honor His fingers moving fast Someone fires a shot Chaos all around He searches for his brother Who's nowhere to be found The music stops, our hero looks down His brother's wound cuts like a knife Our hero tends to the crimson wound And saves his brother's life Now he plays his mournful song Remembering those old days His brother survived, but now he's dead In his memory the song plays It's getting harder to fill the bag His lungs aren't quite as strong But his pride in country, army and kin Gives him strength to play the song The pipes push out their tears of air Scotland's beautiful this night Now the piper must face a different foe Against death he must fight Upon the bonnie highlands In olde Scotland one cold day A new piper wipes the tears from his eyes And bravely starts to play He play for his dear bonnie grandfather Who's at rest six feet deep When "Amazing Grace" finally ends The piper starts to weep His granddad lived a valiant life Served his country with all his heart And now that he's with God in heaven The piper and his bagpipes must forever part posted by:Russ at 8:38 PM | Post Page | 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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