Rubezahl

Once whence the wind was roaring, Atop the highest mount where the rain was pouring, There stood in cloak a peculiar presence, Of man whose nature is wood in essence. Bellowing blows of gust blew from beneath his garb, Where he held and waved a wand tipped with a briery barb. I saw him when I clambered up the wicked climb, To the top of the cliff where Rubezahl spends his time. Seeing me see him he laughed and winked, And was gone in a flash of the dark in a blink. After he slipped from the grasp of my eyes, He whispered from the ether: "You are the same as I." That was my first of encounters with the fairy folk, In which one spoke 'fore it snuck away in a smoke. For I've seen undines and sidhes and salamanders too, Emerge from the mist 'tween what light passes through.