A Fairy Tale

In a land, far away, once upon a time An ancient place, deep in mystical forests There lived a sickly old man The years had passed and he was but an empty shell Even he had no memories of who he used to be But now, in the forest, he breathed his bitterness A small barren one room cabin His only possession, his grumpy voice The town, further down the hill Was to be his only detested outing Each month the voyage, a barter for rations Chopped wood, for his meager means The children would taunt and tease This smelly aberration to their playful days And toss pebbles and stones What do you mutter, you ragged old man? He pictured them in a pot of stew Yet no smile would he spend even on this thought And off he went back up the hill, his bitterness too The echo’s of laughing children, now but a distant taunt He grew older, as did his bitterness Year by year, and like a curse he lived Certainly not of his choosing Almost not hearing the village sneers One day the men elders where called away Kings declare wars, but it’s the villagers who do battle Times became dark, who lived who died, no one was sure The village children wept for their fathers The old mans monthly pilgrimage to the village Was met with sad infant stares His mutterings now no concern of theirs When off in the distance, beating drums and horses hooves Soldiers of terror, pillaged and burned The fires and haze, arrows and swords The villagers ran in into the forests deep Save for some of the children, confused and dazed The old man stood in the midst of it all And fearing nothing, his soul long dead The children behind him, with fear and dread He lifted a fallen sword and felled a horsemen The a second, a third, in vengeance did come And he felled them too, no fear in his eyes The others retreated, their loot in tow Only the angel of death, left with the wind The old man, fell to the ground Surrounded by children, staring in shock They carried him home, his frown, and all And stoked his fire, and laid him to rest When he woke the next morning All the children were there With smiles, be dammed, what did he care? They chattered and praises his heroic acts They truly saw, the beauty hidden so deep This old man saved them, his bravery noble His silence, and rudeness, they ignored it all And a little boy, with wonder, said thank you grumpy Well, against his will, a smile did appear This little one, taken so, thought him so dear And day by day, the children returned And he told them stories he had long forgotten In the forest, up in the trees Two angel fairies, where singing in the breeze Looking down and over the cabin And filled with joy, for an old soul was revived The old man, spent his days, telling stories and teaching The children learned the ways of their past And the old man, who once was dead Now knew the meaning of all life ahead The village rebuilt and returned to routine Honored the old man, once unwashed and unseen The children grew older, the old man passed on And now he sits in a tree and sings in the breeze