Knight in Armor

There used to be this Knight in Armor,
Who was known for his bravery and valor.
Kings from as far as Tunisia
Had had heard of this warrior as a legend,
Some called him the God of Death, Sheeba,
And some thought he was someone who'd never meet an end.

He galloped on white horses to victory
Wherever he set foot he made history
Nothing ever stopped him from getting what he wanted
He jus went on and on undaunted.
He was the Knight in Armor.

One fine day, this dame just walks into his life.
And exactly then he knew she was to be his wife
With black eyes and long black hair
And a shine on her face that'd make the moon not-so-fair.
It was said the cutest couple they'd made
But no one knew it was all about to fade.
The lady of the Knight in Armor!

And one fine day, she's gone.
Where, when and why are still unknown.
Our man looked for her but in vain
she just never showed up again
But he knew the love they had was true
and he had not a choice and that was all he could do.

He wasnt fierce in battle anymore
He did not lambaste his opponents like before
He lost his valor, now he feared
Cuz he now knew his damned ending neared.
He still was the Knight in Armor!
but now he was insane
bravery he couldn feign
looked dead as a circass
And rode on a lazy ass!

THE HIGHWAYMAN

The wind was a torrent of darkness upon the gusty trees,
The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
The road was a ribbon of moonlight looping the purple moor,
And the highwayman came riding--
Riding--riding--
The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn door.

He'd a French cocked hat on his forehead, and a bunch of lace at his chin;
He'd a coat of the claret velvet, and breeches of fine doe-skin.
They fitted with never a wrinkle; his boots were up to his thigh!
And he rode with a jeweled twinkle--
His rapier hilt a-twinkle--
His pistol butts a-twinkle, under the jeweled sky.

Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark inn-yard,
He tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and barred,
He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there
But the landlord's black-eyed daughter--
Bess, the landlord's daughter--
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.

Dark in the dark old inn-yard a stable-wicket creaked
Where Tim, the ostler listened--his face was white and peaked--
His eyes were hollows of madness, his hair like mouldy hay,
But he loved the landlord's daughter--
The landlord's black-eyed daughter;
Dumb as a dog he listened, and he heard the robber say:

"One kiss, my bonny sweetheart; I'm after a prize tonight,
But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the morning light.
Yet if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day,
Then look for me by moonlight,
Watch for me by moonlight,
I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way."

He stood upright in the stirrups; he scarce could reach her hand,
But she loosened her hair in the casement! His face burnt like a brand
As the sweet black waves of perfume came tumbling o'er his breast,
Then he kissed its waves in the moonlight
(O sweet black waves in the moonlight!),
And he tugged at his reins in the moonlight, and galloped away to the west.

He did not come in the dawning; he did not come at noon.
And out of the tawny sunset, before the rise of the moon,
When the road was a gypsy's ribbon over the purple moor,
The redcoat troops came marching--
Marching--marching--
King George's men came marching, up to the old inn-door.

They said no word to the landlord; they drank his ale instead,
But they gagged his daughter and bound her to the foot of her narrow bed.
Two of them knelt at her casement, with muskets by their side;
There was Death at every window,
And Hell at one dark window,
For Bess could see, through her casement, the road that he would ride.

They had bound her up at attention, with many a sniggering jest!
They had tied a rifle beside her, with the barrel beneath her breast!
"Now keep good watch!" and they kissed her. She heard the dead man say,
"Look for me by moonlight,
Watch for me by moonlight,
I'll come to thee by moonlight, though Hell should bar the way."

She twisted her hands behind her, but all the knots held good!
She writhed her hands till her fingers were wet with sweat or blood!
They stretched and strained in the darkness, and the hours crawled by like years,
Till, on the stroke of midnight,
Cold on the stroke of midnight,
The tip of one finger touched it! The trigger at least was hers!

The tip of one finger touched it, she strove no more for the rest;
Up, she stood up at attention, with the barrel beneath her breast.
She would not risk their hearing, she would not strive again,
For the road lay bare in the moonlight,
Blank and bare in the moonlight,
And the blood in her veins, in the moonlight, throbbed to her love's refrain.

Tlot tlot, tlot tlot! Had they heard it? The horse-hooves, ringing clear;
Tlot tlot, tlot tlot, in the distance! Were they deaf that they did not hear?
Down the ribbon of moonlight, over the brow of the hill,
The highwayman came riding--
Riding--riding--
The redcoats looked to their priming! She stood up straight and still.

Tlot tlot, in the frosty silence! Tlot tlot, in the echoing night!
Nearer he came and nearer! Her face was like a light!
Her eyes grew wide for a moment, she drew one last deep breath,
Then her finger moved in the moonlight--
Her musket shattered the moonlight--
Shattered her breast in the moonlight and warned him--with her death.

He turned, he spurred to the West; he did not know who stood
Bowed, with her head o'er the casement, drenched in her own red blood!
Not till the dawn did he hear it, and his face grew grey to hear
How Bess, the landlord's daughter,
The landlord's black-eyed daughter,
Had watched for her love in the moonlight, and died in the darkness there.

Back, he spurred like a madman, shrieking a curse to the sky,
With the white road smoking behind him and his rapier brandished high!
Blood-red were his spurs in the golden noon, wine-red was his velvet coat
When they shot him down in the highway,
Down like a dog in the highway,
And he lay in his blood in the highway, with the bunch of lace at his throat.

And still on a winter's night, they say, when the wind is in the trees,
When the moon is a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
When the road is a gypsy's ribbon looping the purple moor,
The highwayman comes riding--
Riding--riding--
The highwayman comes riding, up to the old inn-door.

Over the cobbles he clatters and clangs in the dark inn-yard,
He taps with his whip on the shutters, but all is locked and barred,
He whistles a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there
But the landlord's black-eyed daughter--
Bess, the landlord's daughter--
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.

Alfred Noyes

THE 10 What Ifs of the World!

The way people think amazes and amuses me! Whenever something considerable happens they always have the "what if" thoughts running in their heads. I do too. When an incident of some importance occurs I'd talk to myself (Yeah i do talk. And I know everyone does that once in a while) and ask the what if question. What if I was there instead of that loser? What if I had met that hot chick before that sleazebag did? What if I was the richest man in the world? And that led me onto thinking WHAT might have happened IF things that have happened had not happened at all and I pictured how it would've been trying to not be very insulting and 'blasphemous'. Each of them is fictitious and is independent and has no connection cuz if i do connect all these incidents it'd be very complicated.

1. What if… The big bang never occurred?
I, being a believer, would ask what might have happened if the solar system was never created? Or to put the question in a way that an Atheist would do - "What if the "accident" never happened? Damn. My minds not that imaginative to think how things would've been without the solar system around in the black expanse called Universe! I want to get 'enlightened'!

2. What if… Eve had not eaten the forbidden fruit?
What if Eve was not tempted to eat the forbidden fruit? Is it a possibility that all of us could've been in the Garden of Eden chilling out near a river which has honey instead of water? (I wouldn't 'honey' my girlfriend) I wonder if we'd be mortals there! I wonder if Dooms Day would ever be a word! I wonder if heaven would've been as rotten as the world is turning out to be after centuries of people!

3. What if… Noah had not built an ark?
Noah built an ark and a pair of every species that lived in the world climbed into it to save itself from God's fury and on His commands. So did Noah and his family. And the rest of mankind was washed away. What if that never happened? Is there a possibility that other races of people lived that are unknown to us. Probably black people from the Islands near Australia who looked like aborgines but had features like the Orientals? And there is this possibility of them having had inventions better than what we have now, in parts of the world unknown to Noah that made it impossible for him to pass on information to his descendants? And there is also this possibility, if that had not happened, of people running out of places to live in due to a population that loves sex. And the world is small as it is! I wonder what the numbers would be like!

4. What if… ‘Whoever’ had not invented the wheel?
I cant imagine a life without wheels. I wonder how transport would have been. Is there a possibility that people might've thought of legs if the wheel was not invented and cars had legs instead? How much more uncomfortable can the ride get? There'd be no airplanes cuz they need to have wheels to land. Or would they just land and wear the fuselage off everytime? Wait. That'd happen only after take-off. And we'd need wheels for take-off. We might not have had transport and without transport there wouldn't have been commerce. And without that there wouldnt have been Governments but just tribes like very old times. And the world would've been a very different place to live in. My minds not really innovative enough to think of alternative ways of fast travelling. Well. There is witchcraft and wizardry and people might've moved from one place to another by teleporting themselves. People might've seen a very different world in 2008 if the wheel wasn't invented. And what about the wheels in machines? And what would've the "Father of our Nation" worn if he had no spinning wheel to make his 'dhoti'? What would've we worn? Animal leather? That'd be a bad scene! We just cant spin the yarn without a wheel. And what about our National Flag in which we have a wheel to show our gratitude towards Gandhiji? We wouldn't have known Audi or Ferrari and Yamaha or Harley!!After the big bang theory and Eve's folly this is the most important thing that has influenced the way we are now.

5. What if… Man had learnt how to fly just the way he learnt to swim?
Wow. That could've been fun! Altophobia wouldnt exist. Superman would've never been a super-hero. Wright Brothers might've tried making something else instead. Pilots wouldn't exist (Damn good man doesn't know how to fly. I cant think of any other way to make money). Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay would have never become celebrities and mountain climbers would've been called losers! And lots of birds would've been extinct and not just dodos.

6. What if… Christopher Columbus had not ‘explored’ America?
Some other European with a difficult name would've 'explored' it! And if it wasn't a European then there is a possibility that an Arab Sultan from Central Asia might've done it a li'l later. I wonder how it might've been if Arabs had started colonies instead of the Europeans. The term White America wouldn't exist. It wouldn't have probably been a slave land the chances of the blacks from Africa getting deported to 'Slave Land' might've been wiped out. (How much more ironical can it get? The people of 'Slave Land' who now call themselves the Americans are now the Superpower).

7. What if… India was never invaded?
If India was never invaded, each city of this country would've been a different country. India would have never existed. There were probably 1000 kingdoms then but they all came under the British Rule and somehow learnt to live like fellow citizens and chased them away! We should thank the invaders if we are proud of our country!
8. What if… Hitler was an illegitimate embryo in his mother's womb and they had ways of aborting during those times?
Poor li'l Hitler wouldnt have been begotten! Happy li'l Jews would've lived the way they did! Schindler wouldn't have made the money that he did nor would Steven Spielberg have made a movie about Schindler! The Jews, if they had copulated the way they did to make up for the dead ones in reality, they would've made half the population in the world. The only difference now is that they control half of the world!
9. What if… Germany had won the 2nd World War?
Socialism and fascism would've prevailed all over the world. We might've probably been taught in military schools. And if England lost, their territory India, would've come under Germany. That might mean we do not get independence until later when heroes like me turn up. Youngsters would be trained to get into spy schools and taught how to make bombs just in case England or America waged a war. We would wear swastika bands around our arms and business class people would be eliminated. Airplanes wouldn't even have a business class as they were so much against capitalism. And the Germans would've opened up factories here and that would include BMW, Porsche and Mercedez. And the Indian roads would be far better than what they are now for cars like those!

10. What if… The September 11th attack never happened?
If that hadn't happened, Bush wouldn't have had a reason to bomb and conquer Afghanisthan and take their oil. And the oil prices would've gone up and trasnport would've become expensive which brings down trade and commerce which in turn wouldn't have taken the dollars worth to 50 rupees a buck! Weird are the ways of the world! If it hadn't happened, muslims wouldnt have been looked at with fright and disgust by half the people around the world. If it hadn't happened, lots of families wouldn't have lost their loved ones....................
(Thanks to wikipedia where i could get lots of info from)