Wednesday's Verse - I Met an Elf on a Summer's Day

- May 22, 2019

This week’s verse moves from a poem about the moon to an almost-Dr-Seuss-style urban-fantasy piece about meeting the wrong kind of elf. It is taken from 366 Days of Poetry, a collection of mixed-genre poetry released in 2016.

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I Met anElf on a Summer's Day

It happened on a summer’s day,

I saw an elf along the way,

and what do you think I heard him say?

Hey, babe, are you headed my way?

Not what I thought to hear from an elf

I said to my somewhat gobsmacked self.

So, I shook my head, and wished him good health,

but told him I was going somewhere else.

Hey, babe, what do you mean?

And then he said something quite obscene,

so I kept walking, though my soul did keen

for the elves who’d in my childhood been,

those merry souls, who in forests danced,

who magicked the unicorns who pranced,

and cast magicks quite advanced.

Why couldn’t I have met one of those by chance?

Instead, I’d met one that was quite a lout,

who from the hills had ridden out,

and who obscenities did spout

So I hauled back my fist and his nose did clout,

and because I’m not quite all a fool,

I fled to the sanctuary of a school,

and in the headmaster’s office my heels did cool,

all on a summer’s day.

Until the elf had gone away.

For no invitation was extended, and he could not stay

out from the hills, in a world not his own,

where the children carried cold iron home.

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You can find the first two poetry collections at the links below - although there are plans to reissue them with more genre-appropriate covers in the future. The third collection will be released later in the year.