Walked the Long Way by Himring  

Walked the Long Way

Every day, every day I sing the blues.

In my own way, I have been singing the blues longer than anyone else around here.

It is not, of course, the pure, unadulterated tradition! For that you would have to go to somebody else.

I brought my own long strand of lament to it—the longer I walk the coastline, the more I learn, the more has blended into it.

Back then—Men call it the Middle Ages now but it seems more recent to me—I joined the singers of the time in the planctus and the planh.

As if I soaked up tears, as well as shed them—I absorbed the duende in Spain, saudade in Portugal, hiraeth in Wales, and they informed my song.

And now I sing the blues. I find it goes as well with the sound of the waves as any of the others.

I have had my share of bad luck. I have had my losses. I have walked right out of my time. I walk down the line between the sea and the land.

I sing the blues and sometimes people hear me sing. Sometimes they sing with me.

Chapter End Notes

The title was inspired the Old English poem Widsith (this is the name or pseudonym of the protagonist, a widely travelled poet and singer, and literally means "wide journey").