This Road

A body in tatters, a trembling mind,
A scarecrow, a scab of a man.
The hospital healers, so patient and kind,
Do for him all that they can.
Then in charity clothes, on foot off he goes
To a refuge remembered from youth,
In hopes of no more than a place in the corner,
Unnoticed, unknown, and uncouth.

    How long have I been on this road?
    Three weeks on the walk from the sea,
    Till the chance of a coin and another's despair
    Let me be more the man that I once used to be.
    How long have I been on this road?

Now my princess is threatened, the kingdom is too,
By a bullying brute of a man.
My sword cannot reach him, the law will not do:
I must try the one thing that I can.
And I dare a first kiss to this lady I love--
The last, for my life is the cost
Of the desperate justice I pray for tonight
From the god of the outcast and lost.

    How long have I been on this road?
    She is safe! Yet the price is unpaid.
    And my lady and I have a future... to fear,
    For the price that I owe has been only delayed.
    How long have I been on this road?

For the Lady of Springtime has made me a gift,
A willing tool fit to her hand.
But how can I hope to be able to lift
The curse that has darkened this land?
Well, three times to die-- a man can but try,
Although the gods only know how.
And I mourn for the waste of this second and last
As I feel the sword enter me now...

    How long have I been on this road?
    For an instant I see through Her eyes.
    And the work is complete, and I shall not complain
    If my soul She's returned to me somewhat awry.
    How long have I been on this road?