All Vows Poem by Gabrielle Ciarann Roniyah Baer

Someone taught him, early on,
Vows are promises made
to the g-ds,
his heart knew better.

Someone told him, long ago,
Vows are too sacred
to be made between mortals,
his soul knew differently.

Someone claimed vows
were meant to keep private,
His instincts couldn't agree.

Someone, more than one,
tried to make him false,
tried to make him cheat,
tried to make him run,
tried to make him betray.

He laughed, He groaned,
He wept, sometimes
But he knew, But he felt,
But he saw,
But he lived as though
all the sacredness of vows,
meant nothing,

unless they were made with hope,
unless they were shaped in honor,
unless they were honed in struggles,
unless they were born of love,

And he made it so, And he made it known,
And he made it felt, And he made it live,
that no one was known more
for keeping vows,

than one, bold, laughing warrior,
than one, golden haired hunter,
than one blue-sky eyed lover
Than the best the living world has ever seen,

Iolaus athanatos esti, Zei!

(written in September,2003)