Nimue and Merlin

She held his hand, she clasped it tight
and watched him cross over into the light.
Wailing, she flung her slender form upon his chest…
What happened next, she could scarce have guessed.
Tear-streaked cheek against the moss now pressed,
where beloved Merlin once lay for his final rest.
At once she leaped up and wiped her cheek.
She would not fail this obvious test!
It would not be fitting to appear to be weak;
In this world she would always do her best,
to be a light for others who earnestly seek
the truth and the things her Master had taught.
Though her life now with loss was fraught,
she had a mission still to live out.
One final tear trickled down the tip of her nose –
A faery caught it on the petal of a rose –
and from the Summerlands, she heard his laughter…
“Do not weep, we shall meet again in the Ever After!”

But a woman on her own, back in the day,
would often be accused, especially when fae…
and because she was blessed with Goddess power,
she found herself imprisoned under a dark tower.
Her own mission now ground to a halt,
she paced the floor of the tiny vault,
and thus her hatred for the world was shaped –
There would be no mercy when she escaped!
They claimed she had trapped Merlin inside a tree.
How utterly ignorant could man be?!
The ‘face’ in the tree was bearded but was not his.
She had watched him depart and he was sorely missed.
At times she could hear his questioning voice
and she would shout back: ‘I have no choice!
They will not listen to the wisdom I hold,
because I’m not a man, or bearded and old…
So when me meet again, let me be the man –
You be the woman and do what you can!’

~ Lisa Frideborg