The motto of chivalry is also the motto of wisdom; to serve all, but love only one. - Hank Morgan
Of all Twain’s adventures, this was the one that first taught me how imagination can outgrow the room you read in.
Preface
If you’ve ever read a book so good
it bonked you on the brain,
and whooshed you off to Camelot
aboard a Knightly Train,
then you’ll know just what happened
when I met old Mr. Twain,
his wild and wizardly terrain.
I was just a sleepy fifth-grade kid
in Elmira, tucked in tight,
when Hank the Yankee sneaked right in
and said, “Hey...wanna see a knight?”
And poof! My bedroom changed itself,
the lamp turned into the moon,
my socks were medieval armor
(and they smelled that way real soon).
So if this poem seems wild or weird,
or slightly un-behaved,
just blame the book that taught me
how imagination can be saved -
by riding off through time and space
before you go to bed…
(But don’t blame me if your room turns
to Camelot instead.)
The Night I Rode to Camelot
When I was just a fifth-grade kid
in Elmira, where I lived,
I’d flop into bed with a book each night -
the best place to be… if you loved a good fight
with dragons, and knights, and magic spells,
and clocks that go DING to save you from spells,
(though Merlin keeps tricks on a very high shelf).
In my room at Washington Elementary -
okay, not AT school, but it’s part of the memory -
I’d open that book and WHOOSH! I’d fly
straight out of Elmira and into the sky,
then - BONK! - I’d land in King Arthur’s court,
where peasants and princes all mixed in for sport,
and everyone stared at my sneakers and said,
“Good heavens! What ARE those things on your tread?”
I read every night ‘til my lids got heavy,
and the candles (okay, lamps) were glowing all cheery,
and I loved that tale like a secret treasure,
the kind you hug tight for good long measure.
Then - the summer after - oh boy, oh gee!
I saw Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye on TV.
They danced across Camelot, sang funny tunes,
and I swear their jokes shook the furniture loose.
I yelled, “HEY! I know that Yankee guy!
I traveled with him! (Well… sorta.) I tried!”
And though TV sparkled and shimmered with fun,
and the jokes bounced around like popcorn on the run,
the magic I treasured...the BEST magic, you see...
was the quiet night kingdom that waited for me
each time I opened that book before bed:
A whole Arthurian world
in my Elmira-raised head.
You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus. - Hank Morgan
GBS jr
1998
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