Pendragon As the early morning light softly broke through mist, on the moors, I watched and waited and my eyes strained as the night gods, shadows through the mist, returned to their halls and left this lonely place to me Too early for even the dawn cries too early for my fellow warriors yet perhaps not too early for his return and I must wait, alert and at my post for he is my lord and I will not let him down Not for any human weakness of sleep calling my mind still louder now that dawn comes And in this half light I saw him come this man-god walking slowly and stealthily A blur against the light and mist and yet I knew it was him knew my lord approached and my body trembled as I knew it would be just me just me to greet him home I stood tall until he stood in front of me not more than an arms length and neither he nor I spoke just gazed into each others eyes And at a cognisant nod from my lord I knelt down and laid my sword at his feet He crouched and lifted my sword  and with it touched my shoulder He bade me rise and held the sword hilt toward me for me to take his arm around my shoulder with ne’er a word spoken  we walked into our camp and we sat together round the dying embers of a fire and shared ale, my lord and I And only in such moments can men share Pendragon and a mere warrior not yet bled no words were ever needed just common understanding his of mine and mine of his He was home and he knew that soon the others would wake and his duties would begin once more But for now he was Pendragon warrior And could share a quiet moment with what he once was He closed his eyes and as I watched He tilted his head back and I Just a man, just in service to my lord saw that he too was just a man but in this moment of weakness I exalted him, for sharing this with me My King had done for me an honour That I will take to my grave And as the first of our people woke And in realising his presence rushed to pay homage He sighed and resumed his role This burden that had been placed on his shoulders Pendragon, Lord of all Britons © 2000 Philip G. Bell	Myrddin’s Cave So you have found me after all these years Come in, Come in, don’t stand there with your mouth open This old man doesn’t bite So you came on the great quest To find Merlin, ha! where did that name come from They say I was responsible for that. Lies all lies Never mind, sit down. If you want to hear my tale My real tale not this fancy stuff of Arthur Fool that he was, Never understood women No my tale is of my love for two women Yes, Morgaine and Vivian Unfamiliar to you? Oh they shouldn’t be Morgaine is better know to you As Morgan le Fay Half sister to Arthur and of the Lore Vivian, the Lady of the Lake Yes of that other world Where Faerie Lore rules And I Myrddin a mortal man Learned of the craft And then of the ways of Faerie Love Morgaine was born of an unholy union And with that came a gift That tore her apart and lost her a brother Arthur was afraid of her powers And had her named amongst the dark forces Casting her from human company Only I Myrddin knew the truth She was with such powers but Her heart was true and with that came my love Alas it was never to be Arthur spurned her and yet commanded me And hence my troth to Vivian lay Lady of the Lake appointed Arthur By the power of Excaliber And she, yes she fell for me And so the eternal triangle I for Morgaine, she never knew Vivian for me and my love elsewhere Vivian grew weary and returned to the lake And I was cast out by Arthur And Myrddins oak stands full in my place Symbol of England as she once was A land of Celtic Magic, Celtic Charm No more. You must leave now I am done. I will not be here again But stand before any oak And I will listen © 2000 Philip G. Bell
Defeat on Bodmin Moor As the moon rose upon the moor  I watched my soldiers returning to camp  Those who had survived the battle  Those who could still walk  And I could see the silhouette of those  Who could not walk without aid  Slowly following, stopping where pain demanded And I had to look away, look away  Defeat at the hands of the enemy  Defeat at the hands of reason  Defeat bringing new tyranny to our land  What hell had I bought on our land?  Only Myrddin understood, really understood, And rested his hand on my shoulder  And yet I couldn't face even he  My old, old friend on this fateful night  At camp, I helped bandage the dreadful wounds As if such, it would absolve my part  One, close to death looked at me and said  "Lord King, we tried", and then he died.  We lost four hundred in battle and fifty more that night. Though the future was brighter, we could not know then, And each one of us that night  Touched his personal hell.  Copyright 2000 - Philip G. Bell	Boy Myrddin Standing by a mountain stream Rushing by with waters cold Boy Myrddin naked waits To see if he is bold  For to be a man, it is said  He must immerse in waters cold  As winters snowy mantle covers  All around within it's fold  And shivering gazes at the rush  Perhaps I am not ready yet, he thinks  And then kneels down upon the edge  Takes water in his hands and drinks  The bank gives way and in he falls  And cold takes breath from deep within  As unexpected he takes his dip  And those in witness side a grin  They pull him out and wrap him well  And Elders say, as only they can,  "Well Myrddin now we do declare,  Today by accident became a man"  Copyright 2000 - Philip G. Bell
Merlin’s Spell of Spring Merlin with his Celtic ways Passed a spell upon the days That when Winter stood still in time Only a poet that wrote in rhyme Could move time on to bring To pass a golden Spring And so my Brothers hear this bard As snow lies down and frost is hard For in the beauty that he brings The first lark and nightingale sings And in the woods the bluebells flower To sweeten us from winter sour  © 2000 Philip G. Bell	Myrddin's Dream In summer forest glade I slept beneath my oak Too late I'd worked the night before Too late I finally awoke But from that restful sleep A dream, remembered clear I saw, As if 't were real And even now, I am not sure And in my dream I saw a land Long time from Arthur's days Where trees were few and hard ground Caused an excess summer haze And citadels of stone grew Where fields should have been Grey's and blacks and browns Where one would expect most green But feared of all were roaring beasts That raced between the citadel towers And monstrous birds that screamed Throughout the daylight hours And sounds that made my head to burst Yet amongst this chaos were men Yes strange they were, with women too In garments too bold for my quill pen In one tower, an invisible wall  Held me at bay by feel Behind a shape retained a world Smaller than us, yet real I saw men moving there As you or I, but so diminished That scarcely would I go Until it was so clearly finished And sounds beholden to that When minstrels play in Camelot But from what instruments I tried to understand but could not. And then I felt the heat of day And was drawn back to my waking state And as I sat up, I thought of this And wondered if my vision is our fate. Copyright 2000: Philip G. Bell