in the shadow of the valley

from behind irish lace
covered bay windows

arose a brooding blood
curdled from hiking

over mountains
and through forests

fighting off the time
of hunger and the weight

of a queen's army
ten thousand stronger

than generations before
the sun rose to greet him

over the last hill
he climbed on all fours

to witness the fields
of the shallow valley

where in the midst
a country house

where behind each window
a set of eyes stared

some blue and some brown
but the most important

pair were green eyes
watching his breath

form like a cloud
on the cold morning

ready to accept
and explain him away