The 99 Poem Challenge (Fox-Trot-9) ✓

7. Ode -- My Father's Sword

The 99 Poem Challenge
Fox-Trot-9

7. Ode — My Father's Sword

1

Oh wert thou first created from the earth?
   The steel with which thy blade is formed was born
Inside a raging furnace, giving birth
   To thee in globs of fire at breaking morn.
And cooling slowly by the moonlit night,
   Thou wast apart of nature's harmony
      Of day and night and changing season's way.
Thou wert a hermit, humbled by the height
   Of every mountain high and massive tree,
      Till someone picked thee up one fateful day.

2

And wert thou shapéd by the hand of man?
   Into the smelting fires wast thou reheated,
Before the sword smith's thunder-hammer 'gan
   To pound thee to submission's blows repeated.
Again, again, the crucible of pain
   And fire was oft repeated, till the end
      Did come at last, revealing thee at length.
And by the blows of Hell that did ordain
   The making of a sword, thine edge did lend
      My father's fathers greater pride and strength.

3

And was thy purpose made for killing foes?
   So great a purpose fit to honor men,
Thy purpose was to murder all of those
   That dared to challenge Tokugawa then. *
And every Tokugawa since that time,
   Thy bloody purpose never changed from war
      To peacetime after bloody battles ended.
The Shinsengumi subjugated crime **
   And used thy bloody blade to peace restore,
      As thou hast every law of peace defended.

4

Oh how much blood hath spilled upon thy blade?
   With every bloody fight, thy lust for blood
Did grow and grow, that oft my fathers made
   Repentance unto God for such a flood.
The blood of foes with which thy blade did run
   Was said to pulse within thy beating heart,
      Enough to scare away a ghoul or ghost.
And when the stirring winds had thus begun,
   I like to think thy strength and martial art
      Defended my dear home from such a host.

5

And reaping souls, how many hast thou taken?
   My family says ten-thousand enemies
Had fallen to thy stronger will or given
   In, forcing them to beg with awful pleas.
The very fear with which thy blade instilled
   Inside the hearts of other men did cause
      The rest to flee than fight a foolish fight.
And that same fear that scared those foes had filled
   My father's heart with pride to think in pause
      Of all thy fine accomplishments of might.

6

And reaping glory, how much honor won?
   Thy fortitude of strength has given fame
Upon my family's name and reputation
   Far greater than my peers of equal game.
I still remember walking with my father
   Along the streets of Nibu, gazing at
      The people bowing to me when I passed.
I hoped some day to equal him and gather
   My strength to wield thy legacy like that,
      And bring my family honor that would last.

7

This heirloom, past from fathers to their sons,
   I carry to the battlefield once more,
The very last against these men with guns,
   A foe my fathers never saw before.
Atop this hill at Satsuma, I peer ***
   Into the lines of all these modern men,
      These cowards that know not Bushido's way. ****
So with this sword of strength, I will not fear
   Their howling guns or cannons even then,
      And charging down the hill I shout and say:
         "Bushido banzai!" *****

(To be continued...)

A/N: An ode is a poem that praises or celebrates someone or something, which captures the poet's interest or serves as an inspiration for the ode. Sidenote: The picture depicts Saigo Takamori, the last true samurai.

* Tokugawa = Tokugawa Ieyasu. See "Tokugawa Ieyasu" at Wikipedia.
** Shinsengumi = a special police force of the late Tokugawa Shogunate. See "Shinsengumi" at Wikipedia.
*** Satsuma = the place of Saigo Takamori's last stand at the Battle of Shiroyama. See "Battle of Shiroyama" at Wikipedia.
**** Bushido = Japanese samurai code meaning, "Way of the Warrior." See "Bushido" at Wikipedia.
***** Bushido banzai! = Long live the way of the warrior!

Meter: Iambic pentameter
Rhyme: (Keatsian) ababcdecde