11-18-2022, 12:35 PM
You are gentle and do not
have a warrior's heart
my instructor told me
when I finished my college
class in Kendo (the way of the sword).
Twice weekly we gathered
barefoot in a gym to learn
the Bushido code wearing
our armor, shinai gripped
just so. We charged each
other like rutting rams
to strike at head, heart, wrist
yelling Kiai with stomping
feet to show our warriors heart.
Not very convincingly, I guess.
Thirty years later, my shinai
sits propped against a wall
just incase he was wrong.
have a warrior's heart
my instructor told me
when I finished my college
class in Kendo (the way of the sword).
Twice weekly we gathered
barefoot in a gym to learn
the Bushido code wearing
our armor, shinai gripped
just so. We charged each
other like rutting rams
to strike at head, heart, wrist
yelling Kiai with stomping
feet to show our warriors heart.
Not very convincingly, I guess.
Thirty years later, my shinai
sits propped against a wall
just incase he was wrong.