{Source} From Sonoma Spring Festival 2006 Writing Competition
First Place in the Judges' Award & the Peoples' Choice Award Divisions

[Title] - Seven Roses, Seven Men
[Author] - Lord Nexus
[Shard] - Sonoma
[Type] - Fiction
[Book] - Purple



[Page 1]
One rose from a
carpenter, who crafts
things for m'lady.
One rose from a miner,
who finds gold for
m'lady.
One rose from a tailor,
who makes dresses for

[Page 2]
m'lady.
One rose from a sailor,
who crossed the seas
for m'lady.
One rose from a knight,
who defends the honor
of m'lady.
One rose from a

[page 3]
magician, who spins spells
for m'lady.
And the last rose cometh from a bard, who
tells tales of m'lady.
These roses all were in a
sack, and a note in
trembling hand,

[Page 4]
As she read on, a tear
fell from her eye,
To glisten on the sand.
"M'lady" the words were
wrote,
"I've ne'er held thy hand.
And I do not think thy
eye has fell

[Page 5]
on a woodworking man.
In the mines a man
searched for ore,
Where all is cold and
dark,
And a picture of you in
his mind,
Helped warm his soul and

[Page 6]
heart.
I know you've never loved
a man,
Who with a needle sews.
Yet he wished you would
glance his way,
when in his shop you'd go.
And then there was the

[Page 7]
other man,
Who braved the briney
foam,
Yet he found distant
shores cold and bare,
Knowing it was not there
you roamed.
A knight once lived by

[Page 8]
the sword,
You knew him not,
it's true.
Yet he wrote each day
and kept it hid,
and those letters were
to you.
The magician, full of

[Page 9]
ethereal tricks,
Who wields lightning's
might,
Never caught your eye,
tis true,
With those displays of
light.
And lastly, the seventh

[Page 10]
rose,
it comes from a bard.
His songs of you rang
loud and true,
But he's not in your
heart.
It should not seem fit,
for a lady.

[Page 11]
To dote on seven men,
Yet the love these seven
men have felt,
Is what fills their sails
with wind.
Yet, seven men, tried and
true,
These roses did come

[Page 12]
from,
And these seven men, of
seven lives,
Are but only one.
I cut the timber in
Minoc,
To buy my daily bread.
You passed me by as I

[Page 13]
did toil,
You did not turn your
head.
I put down my saw, and
with pick in hand,
I ventured to the mines.
For I was old enough
by then,

[Page 14]
For better fortune to
find.
And then one day, in the
smithy shop,
While smelting ore of
gold,
you passed by once again,
your beauty I did behold.

[Page 15]
Surely she won't love a
smith!,
I did tell myself.
So I traveled to a softer
town,
and placed my pick upon
the shelf.
It was then that I did

[Page 16]
learn the craft,
of the needle and thread,
And I hoped one day to
craft a dress,
for you, in royal red.
Yet through the shop you
didst come,
Your eyes denied my

[Page 17]
wares,
So a meek tailor would
not suffice,
To gain your adoring
stare.
A brave man, that's the thing!
I said to the room,

[Page 18]
I'll sail a ship upon the sea,
And brave the briney
foam.
And in the taverns, when
I return,
of adventure we'll be
songing.

[Page 19]
And it will surely catch
her ear,
and fill her heart with
longing!
So raise the anchor, set
the sail,
Our treasure did we find.
But when you passed by

[Page 20]
at the docks,
The gold didn't catch your
eye.
So, at a loss, I learned
the sword,
And by the blade I did
abide.
My valor grew, and tales

[Page 21]
were told,
Of my toils in life.
I fought great wars, I
served with kings,
My honor was reknowned.
Yet you seemed not to
hear
When tale of me were

[Page 22]
told.
So, as the years did
pass,
and my body frailed,
I decided to use magic,
To continue on life's tale.
A kindly mage taught me
the way.

[Page 23]
To call the lightning down,
And call I did, as the
undead swarmed,
O'er Trinsic town.
My magic grew, my age
did too,
and soon I could fight no
more.

[Page 24]
So a bard's lute did I
choose,
To sing these tales of
Lore.
I sang songs of magic,
and great fights,
Whe'er I thought you'd
hear.

[Page 25]
But either I sang in the
wrong towns,
Or the tune fell on deaf
ears.
A life lived, to catch an
eye,
And now my sight grows
dim,

[Page 26]
But here I write the
forlorn tale,
Of seven heartbroken men.

~~~~
Since Britannia's birth I
have toiled,
To catch the maiden's eye,
And as seven men I have

[Page 27]
ventured,
this land far and wide.
For tales of adventure
you have asked,
Of great deeds and will,
And here there is a
lifetime,
In parchment and in quill.

OHhh Excellent!!! (he should have walked up to her years ago!!)