Ronin

I wander the landscapes of solitude Unchecked and unhealed, Beneath heavens speared with bamboo rain, A blade on my back concealed Beyond where the eye can envisage and see, Deserts burning dry, Beyond where the temples sink in the dust, Under a storm laden sky. There is no one to swear allegiance to, The loneliest decree, To walk the earth as the years dissolve And land crumbles into sea. I wander the heartlands of yesterday, Of feudal souls no more, Where the killing fields were hearth and home, My brothers men of war. No master to slip the chains and unleash Honour and ferocity, Belonging to nothing, beloved of none, Rootless, accursed and free.