A Lesson Learned at Lone Tree
By Dave Hayden (Sir Vawn of Eagle's Rook)
We were on our way to North/South, when our car, it got a flat
With two of us in the front, and three guys in the back.
We'd taken out the jack and spare, and left it with our common sense
To make room for the tents and the food, then taken out the tents,
So we could fit more arrows, the bows and five-foots too
A few shields and a pike or three, it seemed like the thing to do,
At the time, some hours before, but now the flaws seemed clear,
As we stood there broken down, looking forlorn at our gear.
We all knew that it was over, that now we couldn't go,
But no one wanted to be the one, to say that it was so.
As we stood in sullen silence, an old battered van appeared.
With rusted fenders and peeling paint, it had clearly seen some years.
An older man got out of it, and nodded at the guys,
He looked to be 'bout middle-aged, at least thirty, thirty-five.
He saw the flat and looked at us, "No spare?" was all he said.
And then he spotted Justin's pike and grinned and shook his head.
"Let me guess, you left it at home?" he asked, amusement in his eye.
And as we nodded sheepishly, with a laugh he told us why.
Seems the same thing happened once to Rick, one time some years before,
Back when he was a younger man, on his way to a North/South War.
We piled in, all five of us, with swords and shields and such.
For a guy who'd played the game so long, Old Rick didn't have that much,
In the way of gear or weapons, just a bedroll and a cot.
Seemed kind of unprepared compared to all the stuff we'd brought.
He dropped us and our stuff off and we thanked him for the ride.
And the next time that we saw him, he was on the other side,
Of the field, all armored up, a borrowed pike in hand.
We waved hello, and he waved back, and then the War began.
We saw him time and time again, all throughout that day,
and for an old guy, he was damn quick, much to our dismay.
By day's end, we were less than thrilled, to see him o'er the wall,
Of the same flank of the "castle" where our line began to fall.
We lost that fight, and left the field, in a sour, foul mood,
that brightened up a little at the prospect of some food.
And then it dawned upon us, that we had no car to drive,
The guy who'd killed us all day long, offered another ride.
And as we sat and ate our food, we passed the time with stories.
Of fights we'd won, and fights we'd lost, and momentary glories.
And it turned out that Old Rick, for all the times he’d run us down,
And despite how old we thought he was, he was fun to be around.
So I guess we learned at Lone Tree, with Old Rick as out guide,
that North or South, when its over, we're all on the same side.
[Editor's note: originally published in The View from Valehaven, 2nd Edition, Volume 3, Issue 4: May 2006. This piece was a View from Valehaven Art and Writing Contest Winner. During the print run of the View, "To Soothe the Savage Beast" was the name of the section under which submitted poetry and stories were published.]