Sancho
Yes?
Giants
Windmills
Look again
I am looking
Thirty windmills on the plain
White sails turning in the heat
You say, “There — the giants wait.”
I say, “Sails. They grind the wheat.”
You lower that battered lance
Call Dulcinea by her name
I know exactly how this ends
You spur Rocinante anyway
I shout until my throat goes raw
The wooden arm comes round
You, horse and lance go into dust
I run
Before it settles down
I know they're windmills
I know the sails, the stone, the grain
I know no giant waits for us
Out on the La Mancha plain
I won't borrow your eyes
You don't have to borrow mine
I know they're windmills
And I ride beside you
All the same
You call an inn a castle
I say, “It's still an inn.”
You promise me an island
Before the week is in
I ask what grows upon it
You say, “Just wait and see.”
I laugh —
Then ask how large it is
That worries me
I pack the bread and waterskin
You choose another road
You carry books of chivalry
I carry
Half the load
A road is still a road to me
A cloud is still just rain
But since I started riding with you
The world
Won't stay so plain
I know they're windmills
I know the sails, the stone, the grain
I know no giant waits for us
Out on the La Mancha plain
I won't borrow your eyes
You don't have to borrow mine
I know they're windmills
And I ride beside you
All the same
If I call them giants too
I fail you with a lie
If I leave you when you charge them
What good
Is being right?
You keep your impossible kingdom
I'll keep the bread and wine
Truth need not make us strangers
Your road
Can run with mine
I know they're windmills
I know the sails, the stone, the grain
I know no giant waits for us
Out on the La Mancha plain
I won't borrow your eyes
You don't have to borrow mine
I know they're windmills
And I ride beside you
All the same
When the wooden arm comes down
I'll say, “I told you so.”
Then lift you back on Rocinante
There's another road
To go
Sancho
What?
Giants
Windmills
Sancho?
I'm here