The Other Side of the Wall at Pennsic
Last week I was at Pennsic as it tottered to an end
On Thursday night around the stroke of midnight must have been
Wet and raining, foggy too, we slogged on through the mud
Laughing, drinking, telling tales of battles we had won
The woods had been quite soaked this year, the battle been called off
So some of us sneaked on in there to see what was the fuss.
Now they tell tales, don’tcha know, ‘bout Pennsic and its ghosts
"just tales," we said, "to scare the noobs, and see who scares the most."
So midnight hits, the stroke of twelve, we’re in the woods at night
When all’ve a sudden the fog descends, rather unnatural, right?
I say ‚descends‛ but what I mean, it flowed along the ground
Just like you see in horror flicks, to cover what ought not be found.
It thickened up, and a fair piece off, we saw a torch of light
And since our flashlights had all shut off, we figured it was right
To stumble towards that light we saw, tripping over the ground
But when we got there, it had moved, a will-o’-wisp to be found.
We followed further, and Gaelan said, "these woods don’t go this far
If we keep going, we’ll end up bumping up against my car."
And just as I began to worry, and people began to fright
We stumbled into a clearing full of people and of light.
We walked on in and sat on down, and everybody waved
At us, then went back to their drinks, and I thought "good, we’re saved."
The fire was bright, the air was dry, the company was keen
And then I looked around and SAW, and a chill came over the scene.
The people there were having fun, the laughter and the glee
But then the words died on my lips, as faces I did see.
There’s Nuala, Kane, and Muirgen too, and Duchess Arielle,
Jafar, Jaelle, Talyia, Kaylun, Gyrth, and Saint-Sever,
Ragnarr, Iain, Gauss, Vuong Manh, and Thomas Smith of Ayr,
Finnr, Caitlin, Tirloch, Manfred, Gillian Clayshaper,
And those are just the ones I saw by eye myself, right off the bat,
There were lots more there, a Society’s worth, and they talked, and drank, and sat.
And Kane stood up, and ambled over, saying, "how’s it going, bud?"
And as those words escaped his lips a chill ran through my blood.
I said "we miss you, all of you" and he nodded back, ‚we know.
But you know us, we don’t always get to pick our time to go.
But we made it here, to Brigadoon, or Avalon, I guess,
We fight, and feast, and party hard, and then clean up the mess
And start again, and greet the noobs we get from time to time,‛
I nodded and asked, ‚but whatya do whenever there’s a fight?
Someone pulls rank, it ends right then, and there’s no problem, right?‛
Kane looked at me, and belly laughed, said ‚you don’t get it, bud;
There’s nothing here to argue about, unless we make it up.‛
I looked around, and saw what he showed, a lot of people, there
With some in garb, and some without, and no one really cared
And some with crowns, and some without, all laughing merrily,
Because, on the other side of the wall, they were all the same, you see.
I stayed and drank and sang with them, till dawn it touched the sky
And as they faded out I shouted, "see you next year! BYE!"
...now forty years have passed that date, and every year I’ve been
Been back to Pennsic, in that same spot, and camped, and wondered when
My time would come, and I’d move on to be with all my friends.
They don’t believe me, nobody does, but I walk the woods and call
Till well past midnight for my friends, on the other side of the wall.
Comments
Pennsic
Ahhh! You brought tears to my eyes once more! I knew some of those folk well, once upon a time. Well done!