On Paths I Wandered

On Paths I Wandered

On paths I wandered all the day.
I heard music that did not play,
and saw visions no one could see
longing for what could never be.
What was the message life relayed?
         
Words on my lips, I could not say -
to speak, to scream or even pray,
for fear of sound that would be me.          
On paths I wandered all the day.

I looked around, I'd gone astray,
quite lost with no guide or display,
no mark of the cross on a tree.
Slipping into a reverie,
my very soul I did betray.
On paths I wandered all the day.

Rondeau Poetry Form: Composed of fifteen lines, eight to ten syllables each,
divided into a quintet, a quatrain, and a sestet. The rentrement consists of the first few words or the entire first line of the first stanza, and it recurs as the last line of both the second and third stanzas. Two rhymes occur: (R representing the refrain): aabba aabR aabbaR.

Award: 3RD Place in the 65th Traditional Poetry Contest.