First Reading at Poet Laureate November 2024
In meadows wide where lilies sway,
A maiden fair did long to play.
Her voice like songbirds, pure and sweet,
Yet fear held fast her restless feet.
She dreamed to dance in morning’s glow,
To let her voice like rivers flow,
But whispers came on winds of fear,
“They’ll call you mad if you dance here.”
She wandered ‘neath the willow tree,
Afraid to let her spirit free.
For in her heart, she heard the jeers,
Of those who mocked and fed her fears.
One twilight, as she knelt to pray,
The willow’s boughs began to sway.
A voice rose softly from the breeze,
A spirit old within the trees.
"Dear child, why hide you so away,
When meadows call for you to play?
What keeps you from your joyful song,
When all the world would sing along?"
She whispered soft, her heart weighed down,
“They’ll call me fool, mock my renown.
To dance and sing without a care,
They’ll scorn me as a soul laid bare.”
The willow’s branches touched her cheek,
Its ancient voice, both wise and meek,
Spoke words that stirred her heart to see,
"The world is wide, and you are free."
"They mock what they do not possess,
For in your heart lies happiness.
Sing loud, dear child, and let them see,
The truth in your sweet melody."
She felt a shift within her soul,
As if a crack was now made whole.
The weight she’d borne for far too long,
Began to fade, as did the wrong.
A sense of freedom, pure and true,
Did fill her heart with skies of blue.
With courage new, her mind made clear,
She’d dance and sing, despite the fear.
The wind did stir, the branches bent,
As if the very earth consent.
Her heart now light, her spirit bold,
No longer did she fear the cold.
She twirled beneath the sun’s warm rays,
And let her voice rise in a blaze.
At first, the crowd stood still, unclear,
But soon her song, they began to cheer.
One by one, they clapped along,
Their eyes alight with joy and song.
The ones she feared would mock her voice,
Now danced beside her, hearts rejoiced.
The maiden’s song soared high and bright,
And all who heard were filled with light.
Her fear dissolved in laughter’s sound,
As love and joy did now abound.
Together, in the meadow’s bloom,
They sang away the darkened gloom.
The maiden laughed, her dream now real,
A world reborn in song’s appeal.