"Relics of the Round Table" by Mary Soon Lee

Relics of the Round Table

"Relic" Watercolor & Ink on Paper
By J. Artemus Gordon

They are good men still,

those few who survived,

the knights who once fought

at King Arthur's side.

Weathered and wiser,

still striving for right,

though they know full well

each day ends in night.

Gone is the glory

that woke in the world;

withdrawn now the grail,

God's grace tightly furled.

Camelot long lost,

the king laid in earth,

but even in darkness,

their virtue has worth.

--Mary Soon Lee

Poet's Notes:  This poem is part of a group that I wrote about the Arthurian legends. The poems included a fantastical take on the cats of Camelot, another about Arthur's dog, and a poem previously published in Songs of Eretz Poetry Review about a girl pulling the sword from the stone instead of Arthur http://www.songsoferetz.com/2018/06/renunciation-by-mary-soon-lee.html. This poem is one of two about what might have happened to the soldiers and knights after Arthur was gone. It's also one of the relatively few poems in which I use rhyme.