We Went Off All A’Riding (A Xmas Epic
Poem, Part 2.)
________________________________________________
We
traveled first cross wind-swept plains
With
icy winds a’ blow’n.
Ten cold days we rode our steeds,
Never
stoppin’, never knowin’
That
on t’other side there stood
A
vast forbidding wall.
In
the dark it came up suddenly –
And
over us threw a pall.
Twice
again a man’s height stood
This barrier before us;
Atop
it glistened sharpened spikes
Beyond
it loomed a forest.
My
sons lassoed the spikes right quick,
And
after climbing up they stood
Atop
that wall, from whence they saw
Into
the dark’ning wood.
“There’s
frightful beasts beside the trees,”
My
eldest shouted down.
The
moment next he disappeared
So
quick! Without a sound.
We
heard the awful gnashing
As I
drew myself up there.
While
both my other boys drew swords
I
peered into the glowering air.
We
couldn’t see my eldest son,
We
couldn’t hear his cries.
“Stay
there!” I told my wife, but heard
Her
snorting, with surprise.
“Stay
here and let you all get killed?”
She
grumbled, as she climbed.
“I’m
coming with, I’ll hear no guff,”
She
stood tall by my side.
We
had to leave the horses there,
As
we passed into the wood.
We
crept along a brambled path,
Led
by a trail of blood.
In a
clearing not far from the wall,
Lay —alive!
– my eldest son.
A
band of goblins held him down,
While
their rancid king had fun
Tormenting
him, and torturing, too.
We
didn’t waste a breath
But
charged into the clearing
To
fight them to the death.
They
scattered quickly ‘fore our ire,
We
felt ourselves well met—
‘Til
below our feet the ground did shake.
We wondered
what was next.
Mere
moments later we beheld
A giant
with three heads!
He
reached down, tried to grab us all
But
missed us as we fled.
We
scrambled under brush and branch,
We
darted through the trees,
Feeling
thorns tear at our sides,
And
roots lunge at our knees.
The
giant tromped behind us still
And
kept us in his sights
Till
my wife beheld a cave of ice
Where
we thought we could alight.
We
ducked into the tiny hole
‘Twas
lined with spears of ice,
Then
once inside began to slide
It
wasn’t but a thrice
Before
we’d sped our way down deep
Into
the belly of the world,
Where
all was dark and cold and still...
Until
the walls unfurled
Into
a horde of icy wings
And
fangs like glitt’ry spikes
Like
bats they were, but so much worse!
They
froze us with their bites,
They
beat us with their icy wings,
Our limbs
their gleaming talons tore
They
dove upon us, bore us down
As
we tried to flee once more.
‘Twas
no escape, we had to fight.
In a
circle, side by side
My
family stood, their swords held high
Brave
against that fearsome tide.
The
ice-bats fell upon us then,
I
felt them gnaw my bones,
I
saw my sons fall under wings,
My
wife stood off alone.
One
by one we fell, we failed.
Our
quest was at an end.
My
last glimpse then before the dark
Was
of a limping, bone-thin man.
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